


Soul/Mate(s)

by CheeWrites



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alpha Jeon Jungkook, Alpha Jeongguk, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, And Omegas, And alphas, Angst, Beta Jeon Jungkook, F/M, Fluff, Garden supply shop owner Taehyung, Gardening enthusiast Tae, Growling jk is back, HOEseok lives, Hoseok doesn't trust you soz, Humour in parts, I will update ALL tags as each chapter is added, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Smut, Jeongguk acting tough but is an actual shy bby, Jeongguk growls when he's horny pass it on, Jeongguk is WEAK for Y/N, Jeongguk is a precious nervouc baby, Jeongguk is a thicc boi, Jeongguk loves being called baby, Lets learn about soulmates, Magic, Magic AU, Mates, Mystery Elements, Namjoon is a helpful babe, Omega Kim Seokjin | Jin, Omega Min Yoongi | Suga, Omega Park Jimin (BTS), Oops, Potential smut in the future, Seokjin can't refuse a dare, Seokjin is a dramatic bitch, Seokjin is punny, Sexual Themes, Smut, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, Strap in kids its time to learn about ruts, Tae is a babe, The town elder is a pure soul, The townsfolk are a bunch of dicks and not in the fun way, Trigger warning; forced vomitting, True Love, Werewolf Jeon Jungkook, Werewolf Kim Seokjin | Jin, Werewolf Park Jimin (BTS), Yoongi gets high, Yoongi is a soft shy boy, Yoongi is also weak for Y/N, Yoonie finally gets some, alpha reader, and betas, and i live for it, and scenting, everyones gradually getting sailor mouth, guess this is lowkey an abo fic now, im not even sorry, no surprise there, rut smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:41:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 59,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22147324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheeWrites/pseuds/CheeWrites
Summary: You were raised not to believe in magic or any of the related nonsense but the more time you spend in the town, the more you begin to realise that maybe everything you know about the world and yourself is a complete lie.You have to face a lot of mysteries about the town, yourself and the people you grow to befriend and care for. But the biggest mystery revolves around the reason how you found herself owning a little cabin in the mountains with a dark past.
Relationships: I'll update when it happens, Jeon Jungkook/Reader, Min Yoongi | Suga/Reader, no spoilers - Relationship
Comments: 131
Kudos: 381
Collections: R's BTS, oc self insertSI





	1. Kim's Oddities

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings;
> 
> This story deals with past deaths and murder. Some scenes may potentially blur and seem dubious where consent is involved(I say may potentially as I’m unsure if this will happen or not yet). Most of my stories involve mental health in some way so I don’t doubt this will somewhere. There will be one scene in the future which involves forced vomiting for health reasons which may be triggering for anyone with eating disorders but I hope not.
> 
> Each chapter will have individual warnings if I deem them necessary.
> 
> Chapter One (1.9k)  
> Warnings; None

You just knew that someone was watching you, your whole body was on high alert with the fine hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Someone was watching you and that scared the shit out of you. 

  
  


You hadn’t realised just how long of a drive it was from your new home in the woods to the little town in the valley at the bottom of the mountain. It had taken you over an hour. 

You hoped that once you were used to the locally made rustic roads that cut through the masses of trees and wildlife surrounding your comfy little cabin, that you could cut down travel time massively. 

The sun had still been up, when you climbed into your new -though very secondhand- pick up truck and made your journey down to the town to stock up on all the supplies you knew you required.

Locating the stores you needed was easy enough and the staff were all welcoming and friendly to your new face, helping you find everything on your list- plus a few extra items they suggested may be helpful that far up the mountain away from civilisation.

  
  


But of course, the sun soon set and before you knew it, you were walking through an unfamiliar town in the dark, the streets barely lit up and eerily empty. 

You had wanted to visit the local clothing establishments, keen on stocking up on heavy winter boots and a reliable thick coat ahead of time hoping that with the winter having just passed, you could grab a bargain in a sale for winter stock. Yet you quickly realised that once the sun went down, the stores all closed and the townsfolk returned to their homes.

  
  


And yet still, someone was watching you. 

  
  


You didn’t want to look around for the culprit, worried that if you met their gaze they would be set off and jump you for whatever sinister reason their heart deemed appropriate but you didn’t know the directions to your truck well enough so had no choice but to slow a little in your steps to glance around in every direction for the correct one. That’s when you halted on the path and double-checked your surroundings. 

You were the only person around. There wasn’t even a shadow big enough to conceal another human.

  
  


Thoroughly puzzled, you lifted your hands to rub your eyes, figuring you must have been missing something.

That time when you turned in search, you found the culprit but they were not at all what you expected.

  
  


“Oh,” The single syllable left your parted lips in a soft breath.

  
  


A cat covered in long white hair that looked utterly soft to touch sat upon one of the small circular two-person tables outside of the local coffee shop.

Now, you had never known the copious amount of cat breeds so you couldn’t name this one but you knew it was nothing short of beautiful, ethereal almost.

  
  


It stared at you for a moment, almost curiously, before letting out a soft meow. 

When you remained still, it repeated the sound only louder and much firmer. 

  
  


“Do you want pets?” You questioned as you cautiously approached the feline not wanting to scare it off. It just watched and when you were close enough, it lowered its head slightly and closed its eyes in wait. Of course, you immediately petted the animal; how could you not when it asked you so politely?

“Huh, you’re even softer than you look, how do you keep that up being an outdoor cat?” You mused. It purred and slowly, you pulled away. 

“I think we both better get home, little one.” It meowed at you and you couldn’t help but laugh at how frustrated the sound came out.

“I’m sure your human must want you back.” It made an odd little sound before gracefully hopping off of the table and started to trot confidently away. Only a few metres away though, it stopped and turned its head to look at you. A loud meow left its little mouth.

“What?” It repeated the sound. “Am I supposed to follow you?” You joked but it emitted an almost pleased purr like sound before turning and continuing on its path.

  
  


For some reason you really didn’t know, you followed it. 

  
  


A few minutes later, you found yourself standing beside the feline at the closed glass door of an odd store. Literally, it was called “Kim’s Oddities” and you couldn’t even begin to understand how true it was, not at that point in time at least. The understanding comes much later. 

  
  


“Now what?” You questioned looking down at the cat. It moved right up to the door and pawed at it gently. 

“Do you live here or something?” A meow and more pawing. “It’s closed, the lights are off, no-one’s in.” The look it gave you made you feel oddly scolded. “What? I can’t magically open the door for you, kitty cat.”

With a sound that suspiciously resembled a huff, it turned and stalked to the alley to your right, directly beside the building. You rushed after the beautiful, mysterious creature curiously.

As you watched intently, it hopped up on top of the car parked there then onto the dumpster behind it before finally managing to be at sufficient height to pounce onto the metal platform for the emergency stairs attached to the side of the building leading up the three floors.

The cat climbed up to the next platform that met the open window of the second floor before jumping inside and disappearing. 

  
  


“If you could do that, why even lead me here?” You gawped in disbelief. A furry little head popped up at the window followed by a loud meow. 

“Like hell I’m following you up there. Think again, kit cat. I don’t want to get arrested for breaking and entering...or just entering I suppose considering its already open.” Your words got quieter as you started to mumble to yourself. 

Another call from the fluff ball dragged your attention back to the window. 

“I’m going home now. Goodnight, little one.” Even hearing the relentless meowing from two floors above you, you kept walking away until you eventually found your truck and made the long dark drive back to your cabin.

  
  


*

  
  


For some reason, all night and morning all you could think of was that damn walking cloud that tried to potentially lure you to your death. Even as you made your way around the clothes store to stock up your winter closet - which yes you did get at reduced prices due to it being spring - and then into the neighbouring stores curiously, your mind kept returning to the cat.

  
  


After placing your purchases in your truck and sitting in the driver’s seat having an internal battle, you climbed back out, locked your vehicle and started to walk down the paths.

You had no idea where you were really, it was too dark the night before for anything to look familiar enough to be helpful in the midday sunlight.

As soon as you spotted the coffee shop though, you knew you were headed in the right direction.

It didn’t take long to reach “Kim’s Oddities” after that.

  
  


In the daylight, the building was a lot more inviting than the night before, especially with the door propped open allowing the gentle breeze to freshen up the inside air.

  
  


Slowly, you entered the little store to find that it wasn’t quite as little as you previously assumed with stacks of shelving units placed seemingly haphazardly within the spaces either side, all full to the brim with various strange looking objects that honestly, you did not want to mess with.  Your parents ...You were raised to not mess with anything that claimed a link to the supernatural even if you were also raised to not believe in anything supernatural; a contradiction you still didn’t understand as an adult.

To the left side also stood a few small circular tables each only big enough for two chairs each.

In the centre of the store was a large counter that stretched around into an elongated U shape with both ends connecting to the back wall and a walkway between them into the back room which was hidden by a beaded curtain.

  
  


As you approached the desk you could make out what looked to be small cauldrons bubbling away on two hobs, one on either inner side of the U.

  
  


“Hello!” You jolted at the sudden friendly greeting, having been too occupied staring into the swirling, glistening blue of the left cauldron to notice as a tall man with deep dimples stepped out from behind the curtain and into the U. You looked up to meet his bright eyes. He was smiling down at you from the cauldron on the right, the one that looked to be boiling tar if the thickness and colour of its contents was anything to go by.

“You must be our new resident! Y/N, right?” You raised your eyebrows, completely taken by surprise that he knew you by name despite the fact you had only moved in 24 hours ago. 

“Small town, news travels  _ very  _ fast around here.” He chuckled. 

  
  


“Right, yeah, I’m Y/N.” You confirmed.

  
  


“I’m Namjoon, owner of Kim’s Oddities! I have to be honest, I didn’t expect to see you here so soon. I knew that sooner or later your curiosity would get the better of you and you’d be in to check out my stock but not today.” 

  
  


“Uh, honestly, I’m here for the cat.” You spoke a little awkwardly. His smile dropped as confusion took over his features.

  
  


“The cat?” 

  
  


“Yeah, last night a little fluff ball pretty much yelled at me to follow it here and I’m pretty sure it wanted me to let it in the front door but it was dark and closed so it went up the fire escape in the alley.” Still, Namjoon just stared at you as if he was trying to decipher your words. “That was your cat, right? Soft, white, long-haired thing with attitude?” A slow nod moved his head. 

“Is my accent too strong? Can you understand me?” 

  
  


“Oh! Yes! Sorry, I can understand you perfectly fine, your accent is barely noticeable on most words. I was just surprised that he approached you, especially let you touch him. He uh...he’s a bit of dick, to put it bluntly. He doesn’t like being touched and even hisses at me when I try half of the time.” Namjoon laughed loudly. “I’m glad he has finally found someone that he likes. I’ll go get him!” Before he could fully turn, you let out a noise that had Namjoon turning back to you with wide eyes, as if you had scolded him.

  
  


“Don’t bother. I just wanted to make sure he’s actually yours and that he got home safe.” 

  
  


“Yep! He’s sleeping the day away as usual in his room.” 

  
  


“His room?” You mumbled but quickly shook your head with a sigh when he opened his mouth to reply. “You know what? You can do what you want with your pet. If you have space, why not give him a whole room? Anyway, I should get going.” 

  
  


“Oh, right,” He gave you a soft, almost sad kind of smile. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Y/N. Don’t be a stranger, come along any day, even if it’s just to pet Yoongi.” 

  
  


“Uh, yeah, sure,” You gave him the first smile of the encounter that had his dimples proudly on show once again, even if your smile was just a pathetic little thing. 

“Bye.” You waved a little awkwardly and left the building unaware of the extra pair of eyes peering at you from behind the beaded curtain.

  
  



	2. "Call me Tae"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 3k  
> Warnings; Nothing specific for the chapter

Within the first month of living all alone up in the woods, you came to quickly realise that you would not survive the winter if you had to drive back and forth down the mountain weekly to replenish your stocks. You had a feeling that even if the drive didn’t suck, you wouldn’t be able to survive simply because you wouldn’t be able to make the drive in the first place. The roads would surely be thick with snow and ice in the colder months.

So, you realised that you had to learn to be self-sufficient and fast.

  
  


Your cabin stood in a large clearing which you owned meaning you had plenty of space to grow your own crops, once you learned how to, of course.

You decided to dedicate a large portion of the ground in front of your home to your endeavours which still left you with ample parking space.

  
  


Around the back of the cabin stood proud a small shed, one you had entered only once out of curiosity on your first day and then immediately vacated realising it was empty and nothing of interest lived within.

On this day though, you unlocked the door and stepped inside where you found a bunch of old, rusted gardening equipment hanging on the wall. 

  
  


“Well, that’s no good.” You pouted taking down an axe to pick at the rust on the blade. “This won’t cut shit.” With a huff, you tossed the item down to the floor carelessly knowing you had to replace it. You had intended to move onto the next item to inspect it but the axe had made a hollow sound as it landed against the floorboards.

Kneeling down, you moved the axe to roam your eyes over the boards. Only when you were looking closely could you spot the little latch hidden in the natural grooves on a particular board. It was a trap door. 

  
  


Once it was open, you saw a ladder leading down under the shed. 

Luckily, you had already taken a torch with you into the small building so you grabbed it from the workbench and turned it on, shining your beam down into the hole.

With the help of the torch, you could see that the ladder didn’t go far at all, barely taller than yourself and led to more wooden flooring so, you climbed down carefully and dragged your beam across the moderately sized space. 

A surprised inhale inflated your chest when you realised that the small room you were standing in was a homemade chiller. The air was much much colder than in the shed which surprised you considering that you weren’t far down at all but you couldn’t focus on the temperature but instead the stacks of jars and small, handmade wooden crates.

It didn’t take more than a second to understand that every container was full of food, prepared by the previous owners; people that had been dead almost all of your life.

Your face turned up and you weren’t sure if it was caused by a dull pain for the lost lives or disgust due to how long the food had actually been down there.

  
  


In the end, you decided it was a task for another day and left the chiller how you found it to continue with your previous task of checking your gardening supplies to see exactly what you needed to buy in town.

  
  


*

Thankfully, there was a gardening supply store in town that you had spotted recently so you at least didn’t have to venture further afield to stock up.

When you entered, a few other townsfolk were already inside picking up their own supplies and gave you polite smiles of greeting as you passed. You nodded in greeting back before heading to the cash desk in search of a staff member. 

  
  


“Hello!” A bright voice chirped coming up behind you. You jumped and a giggle moved around you until a man with red hair and a heart-shaped, wide smile appeared at your side.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

  
  


“It’s fine. You’re light on your feet.” 

  
  


“That I am,” He giggled. “So, what can I help you with today, miss?” 

  
  


“I was wondering if I could get a hand picking out everything I need to start growing my own crops. I live up the mountain so I figure it’s a good idea to be as self-sustaining as possible.” 

  
  


“Ahh, you must be Y/N.” You tilted your head curiously. “Small town, news spread very fast.” 

  
  


“I’ve heard that before.” You mused, a smile tugging your lips. “Is this your store? Could you help me?” 

  
  


“I’m afraid it’s not, I’m just covering for the owner while he runs to pick up a few things from our friend across town. He won’t be long though, assuming he doesn’t get distracted.” He chuckled lightly. 

  
  


“Ah, okay, I guess I’ll look around. I know a few things I need to replace but mostly I’m lost.” 

  
  


“It’s not easy work but, you look like you can handle it.” His eyes twinkled a little as he looked at you, something meaningful on his features that you couldn’t decipher. 

“Oh!” He suddenly straightened up a little as his face lit up with signs of a good idea. “I know there are some gardening books around here, I can at least show you which ones I’ve heard are the most useful.” 

So, the kind man with flaming hair led you through the aisles to the stand of books and started to inform you of everything he knew of each one, reviews from friends and some of the store’s customers.

  
  


When the bell at the front desk dinged, he excused himself with a smile and a hand on your shoulder to serve a customer leaving you alone with the books.

  
  


You were flicking through a book about how to preserve vegetables when a shadow loomed over your shoulder and darkened the pages. Lifting your head, you spotted a tall male with tanned skin and kind eyes behind you. 

  
  


“Hi, I’m Taehyung, you can call me Tae, this is my store!” 

  
  


“Oh,” You closed the book and slotted it back onto the shelf to turn to face him fully. “I’m Y/N.” 

  
  


“I know,” He grinned. “Hoseok tells me you’re looking to grow your own food at your cabin up the mountain?” 

  
  


“Yeah, only problem being I have neither the supplies or knowledge to do so.” 

  
  


“Not a problem,” A light chuckle shook his shoulders gently. “I was raised with my knees in soil digging around, I’m certain I can help you out, Y/N.” He motioned for you to follow him so you did. 

As the pair of you walked around the store, Taehyung pointed out different objects and told you their uses and what they’re best and least suited for. 

  
  


Taehyung was so enthusiastic and helpful, especially when you asked him questions, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy the fact that he could pass on his knowledge to another. It was pretty endearing honestly. 

  
  


You had no idea how long you trailed along beside him with eyes and ears wide open in hopes of absorbing as much information as humanly possible but you found that you didn’t mind, Taehyung had a way of sucking you in and keeping your attention on him and him only. It was nice to not have wandering thoughts. 

  
  


“So, I think that’s everything.” He announced when you were both back at the cash desk where Hoseok, the red-haired man, was nibbling on an apple as he sat on the single rickety wooden stool on the opposite side of the desk to you. 

  
  


“I hope so, you’ve been talking poor Y/N’s ear off for an hour, Tae,” Hoseok commented with a giggle.

  
  


“Oh? I have?” A blush crept up Taehyung’s golden skin and tinted his cheeks the cutest shade of pink. “You should’ve told me to shut up, I’m sorry, Y/N. I just really love gardening and helping people learn the joys and benefits of it.” 

  
  


“No, no, it’s alright, I really didn’t mind at all. I didn’t realise it had been so long myself.” You admitted with a warm smile that made him relax immediately upon hearing the honesty in your tone.

“It’s always nice to hear someone talk about something with such passion and love like that.” 

  
  


“There’s nothing Tae here loves more than gardening,” Hoseok informed. 

  
  


“It’s true,” Taehyung chuckled almost shyly. “It’s my one true love.” 

  
  


“I’m glad you have it, most people never find something they care for that much.” 

  
  


“Like you?” You tilted your head. “Uh! I didn’t mean that like you have nothing! I just! You said it like you don’t have passion for something.” 

  
  


“It’s fine,” You laughed. “You’re right, I don’t have passion for anything, not anymore. Maybe I’ll grow to share your enthusiasm for gardening, that would be nice.” 

  
  


“It would, no-one here shares it,” He pouted looking directly at Hoseok who made an offended sound.

  
  


“Excuse you, Kim Taehyung! I always join you on your excursions into the woods to collect wildflowers and berries and check on your crops!” 

  
  


“But you have no love for it,” Taehyung whined. You couldn’t help but giggle as they continued to bicker childishly. 

  
  


“Anyway!” Hoseok cut Taehyung off with a stern look to turn his attention back to you. 

“Was Tae helpful?” 

  
  


“Immensely, more than I could’ve hoped for.” You confirmed with a nod. Taehyung beamed proudly. 

“Oh actually, I have a question about preserved food.” Taehyung looked at you curiously, silently encouraging you to continue. “I found food storage under my shed full of jars and crates of preserved food but I’m aware that no-one has lived there in two decades-”

  
  


“Two decades?” Hoseok mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows together. “Where exactly is your cabin, Y/N?” 

  
  


“It’s in this like big clearing. Just after the lake.” 

  
  


“Wait, do you live in the Kang cabin?” Hoseok and Taehyung shared a look that you didn’t understand but it didn’t sit well with you.

  
  


“Yeah, why?” 

  
  


“Just… didn’t know it went up for sale.” Hoseok looked back at you, a smile on his face that you could tell just wasn’t genuine. 

  
  


“It didn’t.” You admitted. “I inherited it.” 

  
  


“Seriously?” Taehyung gawped. You simply nodded. “But...the Kang’s died a long time ago, I remember it. No-one survived.” 

  
  


“What happened to them?” 

  
  


“We’re not supposed to talk about it. It was a dark day for the town.” Hoseok announced solemnly. “Sorry, Y/N but, you probably shouldn’t ask about it.” 

  
  


“Can I at least know if they were murdered, is it dangerous to be associated with them?” 

  
  


“You’ll have no problems living in their cabin, even if it’s a bit strange that you do,” Hoseok was staring at you as if he suddenly didn’t quite trust you, as if you had come to own the comfy home immorally. 

  
  


“Not what I meant but I have a feeling this conversation has reached its end and you won’t indulge me any further.” You replied before turning your attention to Taehyung, almost giving Hoseok the cold shoulder. You did not like the vibe he was suddenly giving off.

“How much for everything I need?” Taehyung looked confused for a moment before rattling off a number that was not at all what you expected. “That’s it, for all of that?” 

  
  


“I’m not in this for the money, Y/N,” Taeheyung chuckled. 

  
  


“You need to earn a living, you should charge more.” He simply shrugged so you pulled out your wallet and counted out more than the amount he asked for. 

“Keep whatever change is left,” He opened his mouth to argue so you took the money back and handed it to Hoseok. 

“I have a feeling you will agree to take it all for Taehyung’s sake.” 

  
  


“Good instincts,” Hoseok muttered taking the cash and placing it straight into the cash register. 

  
  


“I feel bad,” Taehyung whined. “Why don’t you leave your key with me and I’ll pick out and load up for you while you go treat yourself to some lunch or something?” 

  
  


“No, it’s fine, Taehyung, I didn’t do that for extra help. You already gave me a free gardening lesson, took time out of your work to teach me all that. I don’t want you to load my truck for me.” 

  
  


“How about this then, I’ll come up to your cabin one day soon and help you figure out what to do with the food in your storage? I’m guessing that’s what you wanted advice on earlier?” 

  
  


“I did but you don’t have to do that, it’s a long drive.” 

  
  


“Just make something nice for lunch and we’ll be even.” He grinned, smiling wide and bright. You couldn’t help but give in with a small chuckle.

  
  


“Alright, fine, that sounds reasonable to me.” 

  
  


Even though you had argued his help, Taehyung still helped you pick out everything you needed and load it into the bed of your truck, chattering to you happily the whole time. The pair of you even agreed that he would visit your home the following Tuesday on his next day off.

  
  


As you drove away out of town towards your home, you couldn’t help but remember the way Hoseok’s attitude changed towards you once he learned you lived in the Kang cabin. There was a big secret there you hadn’t been aware of until that moment but you wanted nothing more than to find out what it was.

  
  


***

When Taehyung arrived on Tuesday morning, you were already elbow-deep in soil, knees and boots caked in the stuff.

Upon hearing a vehicle getting closer, you sat back on your heels to look over at the entrance to your little personal world. A minute later, a truck pulled into sight with Taehyung already smiling widely at you from behind the wheel. You waved in greeting, offering a smile back before turning back to your job to finish turning the soil.

Honestly, you didn’t quite know why you were doing it but something in you made your body start the work the day before after creating a crude barrier for your planned plot with bamboo sticks and thin rope.

  
  


“Started the fun without me, huh?” Taehyung whistled as he stood beside you and eyed over the freshly turned soil with raised eyebrows. 

“You know, for someone that didn’t know what a trowel was actually called before we met, you seem to know what you’re doing here.” You laughed lightly as he dropped beside you and stuck his fingers into the earth. 

“I didn’t expect you to turn your ground like this, you dug deep.” 

  
  


“Something in me wouldn’t settle until I did. Had a weird feeling about the top layers.” 

  
  


“Really?” You hummed in confirmation, glancing at him just long enough to catch his grin. 

  
  


“What? What’re you smiling about?” 

  
  


“You have good instincts, Y/N. I can tell just by looking that the first couple of feet of soil are tainted so you definitely did the right thing by digging this deep. Your crops will thrive in this, especially with the love I know you will give them.”

  
  


“Not like I’ll have an awful lot else to do up here,” You mused.

  
  


“I guess not,” He chuckled. “You’re always welcome at my shop! Even if you just want to hang around for company, I’ll be more than happy to welcome you.” 

  
  


“Thank you, Taehyung but-” 

  
  


“Tae.” 

  
  


“Huh?” 

  
  


“I told you to call me Tae. Taehyung is too formal.” 

  
  


“Oh right.” You nodded softly as you remembered him saying as much on the day you met. “Thank you,  _ Tae _ , but I don’t think Hoseok would be too happy if I did start hanging around. I’m not sure he trusts me.” He grimaced a little, not even able to deny your suspicion. “Just because I live here, he doesn’t trust me?” 

  
  


“The Kang’s were a very well respected and loved family in this town. Their family have lived here for generations and it was well known that this cabin would be passed through the family. I think hyung just doesn’t like that you’re the owner, that it’s no longer owned by such a big part of our town history.” 

  
  


“Oh, I see.” You hummed in understanding. “I know the couple that lived here died but didn’t they have any children, any family to pass it on to?” 

  
  


“No. The Kang family was small, from the beginning there was only ever a couple and their child and the cabin was always passed onto the child when they married. The last Kang’s never had children and then they died and well, it’s been empty ever since.” 

  
  


“It hadn’t been sold on by an agency?” 

  
  


“The deed to the land went missing, no-one knows where it went but I guess you have it now, huh?” 

  
  


“Yeah...my uh...my...I was given it recently.” Taehyung tilted his head curiously, unable to ignore the way you couldn’t seem to find the correct words you wanted to use. You wouldn’t even look at him then, too focused on the soil that you were picking up just to let fall through your fingers in small clumps. Clearly, something had happened in your life and Taehyung would bet his secret crop spots that it was why you were there living alone in the mountains. 

“I don’t know where it came from, but I hope to come to understand some things while here. Maybe I can discover how I came to own the deed, the land and settle the townsfolk’s minds.” 

  
  


“You seem like a good person, Y/N,” You lifted your head to meet Taehyung’s eye. He looked to believe his words so genuinely and thoroughly that you found yourself relaxing under his gaze, if only a little but you would still take it.

“I’ll do what I can to help you uncover whatever it is you’re looking for.” 

  
  


“Thank you, Tae.” You smiled at one another for a long few seconds before the moment broke and he got to his feet. 

  
  


“Let’s see that food storage, I bet whatever food is down there would make for some good fertiliser.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think I need to add a specific warning that I missed, don't hesitate to let me know.
> 
> If you want visual guides for building layouts and such, let me know and I'll make some because I know I need them myself to imagine things and remember layouts and such.
> 
> And if someone wanted to make me a mood board/edit/art type thing for this story I would appreciate it, especially to add to the Tumblr posts to make them look pretty :3


	3. Delivery Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.1k  
> Warnings; Discussions of adoption and abandonment. Brief mention of murder.

Very quickly, Taehyung became part of your life but mostly your garden. He said there was something in the air around your cabin that made him feel at ease and that he wished he had ventured up to the old Kang place years ago to experience the easy level of relaxation that he always felt tending to your rapidly improving garden.

  
  


“Do you think there would be anything about the Kang’s at the town library? Local news articles and stuff?” You questioned one late morning as you drove through town with Taehyung in your passenger seat.

  
  


The evening before, Taehyung had wound up at your cabin after wandering through the woods and mountain, foraging and picking herbs a friend had asked him to supply. You thought he was crazy for walking all that way and refused to let him leave until you fed him a good meal which led to the pair of you falling asleep on your couch in front of the fire after giggling away the night together.

So, you were taking him home, or at least to his store as he had to open up for the half-day of business.

  
  


“Hmm maybe, my friend will know, his family owns the library.” He patted the satchel on his lap signalling that he was talking about the same friend that he walked for hours to pick herbs for. 

  
  


“I thought I shouldn’t ask around about the Kang’s?” You made an uncertain expression. “Hoseok said as much.” 

  
  


“Yeah but, Joon is cool, he’s interested about it all too so he’d be willing to help.” 

  
  


“Okay, I trust you on that.” You soon pulled up in front of Taehyung’s store where a few local farmers were already waiting impatiently. 

  
  


“Oops,” Taehyung smiled sheepishly at them through the windscreen while they glared harmlessly at him. 

“Will you deliver this for me?” He asked holding out his satchel. “And ask about the Kang’s.” 

  
  


“Sure, where to?” 

  
  


“The owner of Kim’s Oddities.” 

  
  


“Oh! Really?” He nodded, smiling widely.

  
  


“He told me you met, said Yoongi made you follow him.” You nodded with a heavy exhale making him giggle. “You really are special, Y/N. Yoongi does not like people.” 

  
  


“So I’ve heard.” You took the satchel from his hands allowing him to get out of the truck. 

“Get some sleep tonight, Tae. No wandering around the woods again.” 

  
  


“I won’t, at least not tonight.” He giggled and waved, blowing you a dramatic kiss as he unlocked the door to his shop. A giggle of your own let your lips before you reversed from your spot and drove the few minutes to Kim’s Oddities.

  
  


Namjoon was serving someone very familiar when you entered the store, satchel hanging limply from your left shoulder. 

  
  


“Y/N!” Namjoon greeted with a bright smile. Hoseok turned and watched as you approached the counter and stood beside him with a reasonable distance between you both but he did little more than nod politely in greeting.

“Haven’t seen you in a long time!” 

  
  


“We met once,” You pointed out with an amused smile. 

  
  


“True but Tae talks of you so much that I feel like we know each other better.” 

  
  


“That’s why I’m here, got some herbs for you,” You patted the satchel. Namjoon’s eyes dropped to take in the movement before lighting up at the sight of the bulging bag. 

  
  


“Come through, Yoongi’s outback, I’ll join you in a sec.” 

You just nodded and gave Hoseok a parting glance before walking to the back wall where a door stood beside the counter. 

You opened it and walked into what looked like a miniature apartment. 

  
  


There was a little kitchen area to the left with counters covered in herbs in various states of drying and bowls of mysterious concoctions. 

In the centre was a dining table with four mismatched chairs. 

Directly in front of you- the right-hand section of the room- stood stacks of wooden shelves and racks with more hanging herbs and bottles of more mysterious liquids and concoctions. But right at the back of the room stood proud, a large semi-circular fire pit fit snug against the wall, its smoke heading up a grand chimney. On the fire, nestled directly in amongst the flames laid what you could honestly only describe as a dragon egg much like you had seen in fantasy movies and tv shows. It was certainly an interesting decoration.

  
  


You didn’t spot the fluffy white feline until you got close to the fire that you could peer over the padded bench facing it to find the cat curled up on the cushions. He was already peering up at you. 

  
  


“So, Yoongi, huh?” You spoke, holding your hand out to him.

After a short moment of nothing happening, he got up and stretched before lifting up onto his back legs to rest his front paws on the back of the seating and headbutted your palm.

“Good to see you too, little one.” You happily stroked his head, smiling to yourself as his purr slowly met your ears. 

  
  


“Huh, never seen him like that,” Namjoon mused appearing out of nowhere beside you. You prided yourself on the fact that you didn’t flinch, well barely at least. 

“So, these herbs?” You pulled off the satchel to hand them over, watching as he wandered off with it over to the table. 

“You’re not even going to ask what I want them for?” 

  
  


“Do you want me to?” 

  
  


“I don’t mind,” He chuckled. “Just that most city folk that come to my shop ask what it is exactly I sell and seeing as you are close with Tae, close enough to be his delivery girl today, I figured you’d have a few questions about the goods you handed over.”

  
  


“I honestly don’t care.” You admitted with a shrug, fingers scratching at Yoongi’s head when he nudged you seeing as you had stopped your petting.

  
  


“You could’ve just handed me poisonous plants and you don’t care?” 

  
  


“Never occurred to me. I don’t see either Taehyung or yourself being into such sinister hobbies.” Namjoon observed you for a second before turning his attention back to pulling herbs from the bag. 

  
  


“Trust your instincts a lot then?” 

  
  


“I’ve been told they’re pretty good.” 

  
  


“Well, you’re right about us at least, can’t vouch for much else.” He laughed.

  
  


Yoongi took all of your attention for almost ten minutes before you left him to join Namjoon at the table, standing with your hands on the back of a dark stained wooden chair while he perched on a stool and started to sort and tie little bunches of herbs.

  
  


“So you must know that I live in the Kang cabin by now, right?” He stopped what he was doing for half a second before continuing to tie with a nod and hum of confirmation. “I hear it’s a mixed bag, Hoseok doesn’t trust me because of it but Tae is willing to help me out with it all.” 

  
  


“With what, exactly? You’re obviously not referring to the fact he’s helping you grow your own vegetables.”

  
  


“Why exactly I own the deed to the land.” Namjoon stopped entirely then and put down the tinted purple stems in his hand to look up at you, giving you his full attention. He was definitely intrigued, that much was clear. 

  
  


“How exactly did you come to own it?” 

  
  


“It was given to me.” 

  
  


“By?” You only stared at him and he sighed heavily. “Y/N, if you don’t answer these things, how do you expect people to trust you?” 

  
  


“I’m not interested in people’s trust, Namjoon. Trust doesn’t mean an awful lot to me these days. I just want to know what happened and how the deed wound up in China.” 

  
  


“China?” His eyebrows raised in surprise. “It was in China?” 

  
  


“That is where I’m from, yeah.” He hummed thoughtfully for a few seconds before getting up and walking over to the kettle. 

  
  


“Sit, let’s talk.” He spoke, back to you as he filled the kettle and put it on to boil. 

  
  


“Don’t you have work to do?” 

  
  


“I do but this is much more interesting. I’ve been wondering what happened to the deed since my family moved here. I love mysteries and to have one so local, I’ve been chasing answers for a decade, Y/N.” 

  
  


For only a second, you thought it over before sitting down on the chair and waiting, picking up different herbs to smell them curiously.

  
  


“Do you have any allergies or strong dislikes to tastes?” Namjoon questioned as he moved around jars in a cupboard directly eye level with himself.

  
  


“Not that I’m aware of.” 

  
  


“Sweet,” You watched his back as he moved around but you couldn’t see what he was doing until he turned with a mug in each hand. He placed one in front of you so you leant forward to sniff at it. 

  
  


“Smells really nice, kind of like…” You looked around the table until you found a sprig and sniffed it gently. “This.” 

  
  


“Lavender.” He pointed out, a smile on his lips, happy that you could differentiate between new scents enough to match one from his table to your tea. 

  
  


“Isn’t that a flower? You can consume it?” He hummed, nodding to both questions. “Well, okay.” You picked up your drink and sniffed once more before cautiously sipping at it as to not burn yourself. 

“This is really good, even if I’m drinking it too hot.” You mused putting your mug down. Namjoon laughed and you smiled lightly. 

  
  


“Thanks, it’s my own blend. I make all my own teas. Different flavours have different purposes after all.” 

  
  


“Isn’t lavender good for relaxation purposes? And headaches?” 

  
  


“Yes,” Another light chuckle. “I figure we could both be relaxed for this potentially intense conversation.” 

  
  


“Good idea.” 

  
  


“So, can I ask again who exactly gave you the deed?” You hesitated, fingers fiddling with different herbs and flowers, picking them up mindlessly into a little bundle. Namjoon watched intently, wondering which sprigs and stems you’d pick. 

  
  


“My parents, or at least who raised me that way only to decide a few months ago they no longer want me in their lives and told me they were forced into adopting me when I was young.” Your grip tightened a little before relaxing and placing down the little bundle. Namjoon immediately leant forward to pick it up and place it in a little mesh baggie before tying it closed. 

“Why’d you do that?” 

  
  


“The bundle you just made has many uses but I think your subconscious picked these herbs as together they can work to connect to missing things.” 

  
  


“That sounds a lot more hoodoo than I accept, Namjoon.” 

  
  


“Well then it just smells nice, hang it on your bedpost.” He suggested, handing the baggie to you. You didn’t believe in the “meaning” the bundle held but it did smell nice so you slipped it into your jacket pocket without argument. 

“Did something happen, for them to kick you aside like that?” 

  
  


“I don’t see how this relates to the Kang’s.” 

  
  


“Never know unless we try it.” But you read past his careless shrug and saw that he was digging for information. The purpose behind his interest wasn’t clear though unfortunately.

  
  


“That’s bullshit. Let’s stay on track.” 

  
  


With a sigh, he gave in realising it would not be easy to pull one over on you.

“Any idea of how your parents got the deed?” 

  
  


“None.” 

  
  


“How about why they gave it to you?”

  
  


“They said this is where I should be, where I should’ve always been.” 

  
  


“At the cabin?” You only shrugged, unaware of the details yourself. 

You had been too heartbroken to question the couple that raised you for details at the time.

“It’s strange because I know they didn’t have any family, I’ve read all the documents and articles on the Kang’s over and over in hopes of figuring out what happened to the deed.” 

  
  


“So you know how they died, right?” He nodded. “Tell me.” 

  
  


“They were murdered and everything about it screamed that it was a personal attack. They knew whoever killed them.”

  
  


*

  
  


Your chat with Namjoon gave you a lot but also near to nothing to think about. The Kang’s had been brutally murdered by someone they knew, someone that held a personal and very severe grudge against them. You knew that even within official government documents, they had no relatives as Taehyung had stated. 

You did not question how exactly Namjoon had come to read such documents but honestly, you didn’t much care, you just wanted all the information possible.

But in the end, Namjoon hadn’t led you any closer to discovering how or why the deed found its way across countries to wind up in your hands twenty years after it went missing.


	4. Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.9k  
> Warnings; Nothing specific for the chapter.

The last time Taehyung visited you in your cabin, he left behind a book about wild herbs; their uses, appearance, where to find them and such. He said that some of the best herbs can be found on the land that you owned in the woods around your cabin, land which he had wanted to go on for years but didn’t, without elaborating further on his reasoning. You assumed he didn’t want to trespass on the Kang’s land due to the status they held within his hometown. 

So, you offered to try and find some yourself one day for him alongside giving him permission to forage and search for all the herbs and plants he desired on your land.

  
  


But the promise to search yourself led you to pack up a bottle of water and some fruit to snack on later with the book and a little kit Taehyung had helped you prepare, and go venturing past the border of the clearing and into the trees. 

Despite having lived there for two months already, you hadn’t stepped into the woodland before. It was an adventure you were honestly excited to experience.

  
  


Taehyung had informed you that anything he wanted would be at least a ten-minute walk past the tree line so you kept that in mind and walked for ten minutes, taking in the beauty of the scenery surrounding you; the great trees, wildflowers and plants in a variety of colour, the creatures that popped their heads out curiously at the new guest to their home before returning to their business feeling entirely unthreatened by your presence.

After the ten minutes were up, you stopped to pull out the book and opened it onto the first bookmarked page; Taehyung had left a messy list of plants he wanted on a scrap of paper there so you didn’t needlessly pluck at wildlife he didn’t desire.

  
  


You looked around curiously and found a small patch of muted red leaves that looked vaguely familiar so you approached and crouched beside them. They sat clumped by a tree that must’ve fallen many years ago, thick roots sticking up in the air by the red patch. 

It was only the third bookmark that led you to read the name and purpose of the leaves; the bookmarks were on pages you found interesting and wanted to find yourself in the wild, the fact that those leaves were also on Taehyung’s list made your life so much easier. 

You collected a small bunch, going by how much Taehyung requested before tucking them into your bag and continuing on your journey.

  
  


*

  
  


Not even an hour after starting you had found and gathered everything on Taehyung’s list, along with a few wildflowers which were pretty enough that you wanted to place in a little vase on your bedside table to wake up to every day.

  
  


Instead of returning to your home though, you kept walking, turning now and then and honestly not really concerning yourself over the fact that you could very likely get lost in the woods with no way of contacting anyone. Phones didn’t get any signal on the mountain, after all. You honestly hadn’t even used your phone since moving to the cabin, it laid dead in your sock drawer.

  
  


You were forced to a stop when you met a stream. Deciding it was a good place for a break, you sat down and pulled out an apple and your water bottle to re-energise yourself.

Not even five minutes later though, you were disturbed by a rough male voice from across the stream. 

“What are you doing here? This is private land.” 

  
  


Your neck almost snapped with the sudden speed that you turned to locate the stranger.

The man on the opposite side of the small body of water looked to be around your age, at least in his facial features because from what you could see from his bulging thighs and biceps, he was certainly much more muscular than any boy your age that you had crossed paths with before.

“Uh?” 

Even though your answer was very inarticulate and plain dumb, the male seemed to lose a hell of a lot of his aggression, his stance relaxing and arms unfolding to fall by his sides. 

  
  


“Who are you?” His voice was much softer now, almost sweet-sounding as round eyes stared at you curiously, as if he was trying to figure you out. 

  
  


“Y/N, I live nearby.” You pointed your thumb over your shoulder blindly back in the direction you came. 

“Is this your land? I’m new here so I don’t know the boundaries yet, I thought mine was to the stream but I’m probably wrong.” 

  
  


“It’s not my land. My family were close with the people that used to own it. We’ve been protecting it from poachers and vandalists for years.” 

  
  


“The Kang land?” He nodded. “It’s mine now.” 

  
  


“What?” His gaze grew dark and his eyebrows slanted down with anger. “You can’t. You’re squatting. A liar.” 

  
  


“I’m really not. I was given the deed and now own the land that used to belong to the Kang’s.” He did not seem to believe you at all. “I literally have the deed at the cabin with my name on it.” 

  
  


“I want to see.” You raised your eyebrows. “I have to go now but I’ll be by tonight to look at it.” And then, he left. He just turned around and jogged off back into the trees on his side of the stream.

You sat there for a few minutes utterly dumbstruck before letting out a heavy breath and returning to your snack.

  
  


*

  
  


You were just about to start preparing vegetables to make a basic soup for dinner when footsteps echoed on your front porch. You waited for only a fraction of a second before there was a knock on the front door. 

It wasn’t Taehyung, his steps did not sound like that nor did he knock in such a manner. He always knocked out a little tune, different almost every time while singing your name out sweetly to beckon you quicker. It worked at least, you were always happy to see him. It did get pretty lonely up the mountain after all.

  
  


Honestly, up until you opened the door, you had forgotten all about the guy at the stream but there he was suddenly standing on your porch with a firm expression and wearing the same almost tight-fitting black joggers and black t-shirt.

  
  


“Oh, you,” You mumbled, your surprise showing in your tone.

  
  


“I told you I’d be by.” 

  
  


“That you did,” You hummed and stepped aside to motion him to enter. He did so but a little tentatively, as if the house itself would reject him. You shut the door behind him. 

“Don’t look so awkward, you invited yourself over.” 

  
  


“I didn’t.” You gave him a look that made him sigh. “I just...my family are protective of this land and cabin, I can’t just take the word of a stranger on their rights to it.” 

  
  


“Hey, I’m not going to argue with you. I never argue with guys that could crack my skull with their thighs.” The flush that tickled his cheeks pink made you giggle. Cute.

“Sit.” You didn’t wait to see if he obeyed before climbing the stairs straight up to your room and walked the small landing to the wardrobe where you kept your box of important documents.

  
  


When you returned downstairs, he was perched awkwardly on the very edge of the couch, eyes darting around the room as he took everything in.

  
  


“Here it is, one old as hell deed.” You announced flopping down next to him and handing over the document. He took it carefully and read every inch of the thing, reading over your name underneath the names of the previous owners. You had no idea why the deed had never been replaced by one with less age and wear and tear but, it was still a perfectly valid legal document so you didn’t really mind. 

  
  


“Oh...guess you do really own it now.” He murmured.

  
  


“Told you so.” After staring at the spot your name took for another few seconds, he handed it back. 

“So, going to pass the news on so that I don’t have your family doing exactly this if I bump into them?” 

  
  


“You won’t, they died a few years ago. Just me left.” He shrugged but you could see the downturn of his lips and the sadness in his eyes despite the fact he was staring ahead into the fire opposite you both.

  
  


“I’m sorry.” Another shrug moved his shoulders. 

“I don’t have any family either, not now but guess I haven’t ever.” You had no idea why you were telling him about your family situation but you couldn’t really stop yourself. 

“A couple of months back the couple I grew up calling mum and dad told me they adopted me by no choice of their own. They said they never wanted me but they couldn’t risk putting me into the care system for the sake of whoever I’d end up with. I didn’t realise how much they hated me until they kicked me out and told me never to go back.” 

  
  


“That’s horrible. How could they say that to you?” 

  
  


“I honestly have no idea.” You laughed a little, it was humourless but not dark, you had been slowly getting over the pain it initially caused you. 

When you looked up, you found that he was already looking at you and you felt something in his gaze, something in the air between you, something like a mutual understanding, a connection. 

  
  


“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to keep protecting your land, Y/N. My family always supported and protected the Kangs no matter who exactly lived in this cabin, maybe I could keep that going by protecting you.” 

  
  


“Don’t you think you should at least tell me your name before offering that?” You teased.

  
  


“Oh, right,” His cheeks warmed a little at the reminder that he hadn’t yet told you his own name. “My name is Jeongguk.”

  
  


“Well then, Jeongguk, I have no problem with you continuing to protect my land, including myself but only if you agree to come in and have dinner with me sometimes. I’m getting a bit sick of eating alone.” 

  
  


A soft smile lifted his lips.

“I can do that.” 

  
  


*

  
  


Taehyung was over the moon with the herbs and plants you managed to collect for him.

“This is great! Joonie can finally make the potion for Yoongi!” He exclaimed dancing happily on the opposite side of his store’s counter to you. 

  
  


“A potion...for his cat?” You questioned with a raised eyebrow.

  
  


“Yes.” 

  
  


“Okay, whatever, I’m not even going to question it.” Taehyung just grinned at you. 

“You look pretty busy today, do you want me to deliver them to him?” You offered after taking in the freshly delivered stock, piled haphazardly behind the counter.

  
  


“Oh! Yes please Y/N!” He bundled up the correct plants and handed them back to you so you tucked them safely into your bag. “Thank you!” 

  
  


“No problem. I’ll come back and help you with your delivery when I’m done.” His eyes sparkled at the offer making you laugh lightly. “See you in a minute, Tae.”

  
  


You decided to walk to Kim’s Oddities knowing it wasn’t far really so it was such a waste to drive the short distance.

  
  


Just as you were about to enter the open door, a blur of white darted in before you, weaving through your legs making you yelp in surprise and tumble backwards, falling on your backside rather gracelessly. 

At least the ground was dry.

The white mass jumped onto your lap with a soft trill and you sighed, lifting a hand to stroke through the feline’s soft fur.

“Good morning to you too, Yoongi.” You spoke. He purred and moved forward to press his front paws against your chest so that he could nuzzle your jaw. 

“Yeah yeah, I forgive you for tripping me. Shit happens and you apologised so we’re fine.” 

  
  


“Y/N?” You looked up to find Namjoon standing in the open doorway where your feet still were, and staring down at you with an amused expression. “Why are you down there?” 

  
  


“Yoongi here decided to send me on a little morning trip.” 

  
  


“Yoongi.” Namjoon scolded after an exasperated heavy breath. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” He apologised as he held out a hand to help you up. Yoongi jumped from your lap with a displeased sounding meow when he could no longer stay due to your movements. Once you were upright Namjoon continued to talk.

“I swear he’s literally never outside during the day, he hates how the customers always want to touch him. I thought he was in his room, honestly.” 

  
  


“I think he just knew I’d be here and wanted to mess with me.” You mused, following Namjoon into the shop with Yoongi rushing ahead to jump up onto the counter and wait for you. 

  
  


“I think it’s more that he wants your attention. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he has a crush on you.” Namjoon sniggered, reaching out to pet his cat but Yoongi hissed and swiped his paw towards the tall man so Namjoon rapidly retracted his hand. 

“Hey! Be nice!” With a grumble, Namjoon wandered off through the door beside the counter. 

  
  


“He just wants to love you,” You giggled, approaching Yoongi and scratching behind his ear. He made a grumbling annoyed sort of sound so you removed your hand. The second you were no longer touching him though, Yoongi turned and shuffled closer to you, nudging your hand back onto his head and purring as you resumed your scratches.

“Why me, huh? Why do you like me and no-one else?” 

Of course, you didn’t get an answer.

  
  


Namjoon entered through the beaded curtain carrying a crateful of small empty jars. 

  
  


“What’s that?” You asked curiously as he started to carefully ladle a shimmering thick silver liquid into the jars. It looked like liquid metal silver. You couldn’t even begin to imagine what it could really be. 

  
  


“Healing salve, for cuts and any open sores.” You just hummed, watching silently until all the jars were full. “Hoseok works at the local hospital. It’s run by the town council and they save money by buying local herbal remedies from me instead of all those nasty chemicals in typical medicine.”

  
  


“And this salve works? It heals wounds?” 

  
  


“Yep. You’ll heal twice as fast with my salve than any chemical salve produced in factories by big companies. Plus, this smells nice.” He held a jar up to you so you sniffed it, eyes widening in pleasant surprise.

  
  


“Wow, it really does. Do you happen to have any spare you can sell me then? It’d be helpful to have something like this at home.”

  
  


“You can have one for free.” He grinned, continuing when you opened your mouth to argue. “You’ll have to wait for it to set though; if they don’t set properly, they don’t work, unfortunately.” 

  
  


“I can’t just have one for nothing, Namjoon.” 

  
  


“Yes, you can. You brought me those herbs last time, it was free delivery.” He chuckled.

  
  


“Oh! That reminds me!” You pulled your bag around to open it and remove the plants. His face lit up at the sight of the carefully bundled herbs and flowers.

“Tae said you wanted these for a potion for Yoongi.” You handed over the bunch and even Yoongi was interested, approaching Namjoon to sniff the greenery in his hands.

  
  


“You didn’t question the potion part?” He teased well aware of your disbelief in anything magical.

  
  


“Potions doesn’t have to refer to magic. He probably just meant something medicinal.” 

  
  


“Well, I mean, it will help him feel more like himself so you can think of it medicinally if you want,” Namjoon smirked at Yoongi who turned and gave you one last glance before hopping off the counter and disappearing

from your sight. A second later you saw the beaded curtain move so assumed he had gone to the back room.

“This is really great, thank you, Y/N. I’ve been waiting for years for these.” 

  
  


“Years?!” He nodded. “Why didn’t you just go pick them? I’m sure no-one would’ve noticed.”

  
  


“The Kang land is protected, no-one can step foot on it without permission from the Kangs, well actually I guess you now, huh.” 

  
  


“Oh, do you mean Jeongguk?” Namjoon’s eyes widened in surprise. “I met him. Seems like a nice guy.” 

  
  


“You should be careful around him, Y/N. He’s dangerous.” The serious expression on his features and unwavering tone made you hesitate. 

  
  


Jeongguk didn’t seem at all dangerous to you, sure intimidating at first but once he realised you were genuine, he himself softened up and was actually rather shy. But, Namjoon surely knew him better, he had, after all, lived in town a lot longer than yourself so should know the inhabitants better.

  
  


Namjoon could see the internal battle on your features so he forced all thought of Jeongguk from his mind and smiled at you once again. 

“Why don’t you come through for some tea while you wait for the salve?” 

  
  


“Oh, yeah, thanks.” You smiled back and walked through the door. 

You spent the rest of the day with Namjoon, helping him dry herbs and clean bottles and jars all while Yoongi stayed close by and watched you work with his human with a smile on your face.


	5. Growl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.1k  
> Warnings; Very mild and suggested sexual content.

Despite Namjoon’s warning, you found yourself letting Jeongguk into your life and home on a fairly regular basis and spending hours talking together about nothing and everything.

You learned that he lived in his family’s cabin a couple of miles further up the mountain with two friends who were like brothers to him since his parents died.

Even though you talked a lot, Jeongguk couldn’t tell you anything about the Kang’s even if it was clear he at least knew exactly how they died and more than likely why they were brutally murdered. He wouldn’t tell you and you didn’t push him, clearly, the topic made him uncomfortable.

  
  


One evening when Jeongguk arrived - and let himself in like you had given him permission to weeks before he actually started to listen to the consent- he found you standing just inside the kitchen and staring at the wall to the right confusedly, hands on your hips as you tilted your head this way and that as if trying to see something.

  
  


“What are you doing?” He mumbled standing behind you to try and figure out what you were looking at. 

“I don’t see anything.”

  
  


“Me either.” Jeongguk opened his mouth to reply then closed it to look at you utterly bewildered. “Don’t you ever get a weird feeling here? Like something is wrong with the building?” 

  
  


“No.” He looked at the wall. “It looks safe to me.” 

  
  


“Not like that just like….come here.” You took his hand and led him to the left and into the pantry. 

“Take in the size of the room and the wall.” You pointed to the end of the pantry, the wall that cut off where you were standing in the kitchen.

Jeongguk made a sound of distracted agreement but you yourself were too distracted to notice his own distraction until you had pulled him back out of the pantry, through the kitchen and living room and into the bathroom to face the wall that separated the bathroom and pantry behind the bath.

  
  


“It doesn’t add up.” You stated, almost glaring at the wall for a good ten seconds before turning your head to look up at Jeongguk only to find him staring wide-eyed downwards. You followed his gaze and blushed upon realising your fingers were laced together comfortably. You hadn’t even registered that it was the first time that you two had really touched and to hold hands was considered an intimate thing to a lot of people.

“Sorry.” You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest awkwardly to stare back at the wall so that you didn’t have to make uncomfortable eye contact. Not that you had to worry about that, Jeongguk was too flustered by the hand holding to even attempt to look up at you, afraid you’d see his bright pink cheeks.

“Do-do you see what I mean?” You asked, clearing your throat so your voice wasn’t so meek and obviously embarrassed.

  
  


“Uhm…” Jeongguk carefully lifted his head to glance at you, relaxing when he found your attention elsewhere before following it and straightening up himself. 

“It’s a wall.” 

  
  


“Yes.” 

  
  


“Aren’t there walls in China or something?” You sighed and left the bathroom. 

“What? I’m confused, Y/N,” he whined, following you back to where he originally found you; in the kitchen glaring at the wall where the wall between the pantry and the bathroom should’ve been hiding.

  
  


“Don’t you feel like it doesn’t add up? That the pantry and bathroom should both be longer to connect? Like something else should be right here but there’s not.”

  
  


“Uh...no.” You groaned in frustration and turned to the fridge to pull out some meat for dinner.

“This is how it’s always been. I’ve been in here as a kid and it hasn’t changed.” 

  
  


“It just doesn’t add up.” 

  
  


“Well, stop thinking about it because you’ll just get annoyed and nothing will come of it.” He flopped down at the dining table to grin cheekily at you. “Just focus on making us a delicious dinner.” 

  
  


“How about you get your lazy butt up and wash your hands to help me?” You gave him a look. He whined dramatically and slumped down in his seat; the same chair he always sat in, the one that allowed him to see what you were doing no matter where in the kitchen you wandered.

  
  


“I’m tired. Hyung wanted to clean all the furniture this morning so I had to carry a lot of it outside so he had space.” 

  
  


“That’s not my problem, Guk.” You hummed while seasoning the meat in a way you knew you both enjoyed. 

A smile lifted your lips when you heard the tap running. 

“Good boy. Peel some potatoes.”

  
  


*

  
  


The night found yourself and Jeongguk settled comfortably beside each other on the soft rug in front of the fire, a blanket wrapped around both of your shoulders as you read a new book on growing herbs while Jeongguk sat contently with you, humming when you told him about a new herb you had just read about.

Soon enough, the mix of the heat so close to your body and concentrating on small printed letters for a prolonged period made your eyes ache so you closed your book and got up to tuck it back into place on the shelf. 

Jeongguk held the blanket open while you settled back down facing him. He turned a little, instinctively towards you now that your attention could be taken up by himself. 

  
  


“Can I meet your friends one day?” You asked softly.

  
  


“Why?” 

  
  


“I want to know your family if you’ll let me. I care about you and want to meet those that care about you too. So we can care for and support you together.” 

  
  


“Oh…” 

  
  


“Is that a no?” 

  
  


“No, it’s...they want to meet you too but I didn’t think you’d want to meet them.” You rolled your eyes. 

“Do you really care about me that much?” 

  
  


“Of course I do,” You smiled softly at him. “I care about you a lot.” 

  
  


“I care about you too,” His eyes searched all over your features for a few seconds but you didn’t mind, you had grown used to it; Jeongguk seemed to need to read your expression a lot whether to understand you or because he didn’t believe whatever you said, you didn’t know but you didn’t question it.

“You look uncomfortable.” He mumbled, leaning away from you. You hadn’t even realised that he had leaned closer in the first place. 

  
  


“I do?” You looked a little bewildered by his observation before understanding. “Oh, my neck is aching a bit from having it bent to read for so long.” 

  
  


“Come here.” He opened his legs and spread them out to pat the space in between them. “Hyung says I’m good at neck rubs.”

  
  


“Oh,” You shuffled over to sit with your back facing him, letting the blanket fall to the floor by his side. 

  
  


“Tell me if I do it too hard,” He warned.

  
  


“I can handle hard.” You joked but as per usual, the sexual joke went over Jeongguk’s head and he just hummed, taking your words seriously. 

Your eyes fell still mid-eye-roll when his fingers started to work over the back of your neck and shoulders. 

When he pressed his thumb into a certain spot on the left side of your neck, at the back of the crook connecting your neck and shoulder, your eyes practically rolled back into your head.

Jeongguk heard the little gasp that jumped from your parted lips; he swallowed thickly and decided to avoid that particular spot knowing how sensitive it was on himself so maybe it was like that for everyone. He didn’t know how the human body worked.

  
  


Jeongguk worked diligently for a good twenty minutes on your neck and shoulders, massaging all tension and ache away until you were almost slumped back against his chest.

“Better?” He asked, voice sounding lower than usual but that may’ve just been the fog in your mind. 

  
  


“Yeah, so much, thanks, Gukkie,” You hummed turning a little to curl up against his chest. He inhaled in surprise yet slowly encircled your body in his arms.

  
  


For a little while, neither of you moved or said a word.

When you felt yourself fighting to keep your eyes open though, you reluctantly sat upright and smiled at him. 

  
  


“You’re amazing, you know that right?” Your words were barely mumbles, sleep obvious in your tone. 

  
  


“You need to go to bed,” He muttered, cheeks pink as he clambered to his feet. You whined and grabbed his hand, attempting to drag him back down. 

  
  


“No, want more cuddles.” 

  
  


“Y/N, you’re pretty much falling asleep right there.” He sighed, wanting to sit back down with you but knew you really needed to get some sleep and he should head home himself to do the same.

  
  


“Just a little bit, please?” Your pout broke his resolve. He sat back down with a heavy exhale. “Thank you Gukkie.” The kiss you pressed to his cheek caught him off guard, so much so that when you started to pull back he turned his head to look at you with wide eyes. You were moving much slower than he expected though which caused your lips to brush against one another. 

Gasps escaped both of your mouths at the unusual feeling that shot through your bodies. 

You had kissed multiple people before but never had it felt like that and it wasn’t even a proper kiss. A brush of lips should not create tingling lips and a fluttering stomach.

You couldn’t help but stare at his lips when you both pulled further back but neither of you moved, far too caught up in the way it felt.

You had expected Jeongguk to move away with red cheeks, embarrassed by the accident yet what you got was his lips pressing back against yours tentatively. 

Some kind of instinct within you made you respond and kiss him back before your mind had even caught up with what was happening. But even then, you found you didn’t have it in you to pull away. 

  
  


Jeongguk was shy, cautious as he kissed you, hands staying to himself and lips not parting at all, at least at first. 

When you blindly reached out to take his hands and place them on your waist before taking his own face into your gentle hands, he grew braver, fingers curling into your shirt to pull you closer. 

And when you parted your own lips to flick your tongue against his lips, his chest rumbled with a low groan and before you knew it, he had your body held onto his lap, chest almost touching chest as his tongue darted out to caress your own. 

  
  


You couldn’t tell who started it but soon enough you found that you were both grinding your hips together; panting and grasping at each other for more, for tighter friction where you wanted it most.

  
  


A little nip on his bottom lip followed by pulling it into your mouth to suck on lightly had him growling- a sound you had only read about men making in erotic fiction- sending your stomach twisting and turning as he pushed your body off of his and down onto the blanket that lay discarded on top of the rug. His dark eyes drank in your flushed features and heaving chest, legs still spread from being straddled on his lap.

Jeongguk pressed his lips tightly together and sucked in a deep breath through his nose; you watched as his eyelids closed, hiding what you could’ve sworn was his eyes rolling back. 

  
  


For almost a minute, he stayed knelt up with his eyes closed and chest shuddering as he breathed through his mouth which he had abruptly opened back up. 

You had no idea what was going through his mind and could only watch him. 

Was he regretting what just happened? 

Did he want to leave and pretend it never happened? 

You had to know. 

  
  


“Guk?” You called softly, hoping to bring him back to earth gently. Instead, his eyes snapped open and he stared down at you with something dark in his eyes that your mind wanted to tell you was dangerous, that it was something you should run away from but your body, your body loved it and visibly shivered at the intense look.

Jeongguk’s eyes darkened at the shudder before he was on you in a split second, pushing you down into the floor with his lips back on yours and his hips grinding down against your own showing you that he was already very aroused. 

And honestly, you had never been more turned on in your life.


	6. Instincts and Oranges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 3.3k  
> Warnings; None specific for the chapter

Considering that the last time you had seen Namjoon he had told you to stay away from Jeongguk and then the next day you had sex with the younger male, you had planned to avoid Kim’s Oddities for at least two weeks but you were handed a reason to stalk into the store in search of the man much sooner than planned. Literally.

  
  


“Namjoon!” You called noticing the store was empty, the closed sign was actually in the door but Namjoon had long ago told you that the sign didn’t necessarily mean the door was locked so it was wise to always twist the handle. 

So, you had twisted the handle and it allowed you to enter the unusually quiet shop. 

  
  


A soft purr from by your feet caused you to look down just in time to watch as Yoongi wove between your ankles, rubbing his head against your limbs as he moved.

  
  


“Hey, buddy,” You reached down and scratched behind his ear in greeting with only one finger as there was a little fabric pouch clasped in the rest of your hand. Yoongi immediately turned to the pouch with wide eyes, pupils large and interested in the contents. 

“Oh, does it smell good to you?” You questioned crouching down to open the pouch to allow him to sniff it easily. Instantly, his nose disappeared into the pouch with enough sudden pressure to knock it from your hand, spilling the dried herb across the floor. Yoongi chirped happily before dropping to roll around in the little green pieces.

“Oh, that doesn’t look good.” 

  
  


“Yoongi! Where did you go?! We’re supposed to be working on your potion, remember?!” You looked over as Namjoon bustled through the beaded curtain and appeared behind the counter. 

“Oh! Y/N!” He beamed.

  
  


“Are you running around with scissors?” You questioned, eyeing the pair of silver scissors in Namjoon’s right hand, finger and thumb through the loops ready to use.

  
  


“Oh uhm...no.” He lied blatantly, removing the item from his grasp before tucking it into one of the drawers behind the counter. You gave him a look before giggling and turning your attention back to Yoongi who was on his back, front paws curled up by his chin as he swayed from side to side. 

  
  


“So I think I accidentally got Yoongi high.” 

  
  


“Catnip?” Namjoon guessed.

  
  


“I assume so.” You got up, taking the little pouch with only a sprinkle of herb left within to approach the counter and hand it to Namjoon. 

“I was actually coming to ask you about it...and this.” You placed a large glass jar onto the counter with a thunk. It was full of an assortment of items; gems, herbs, flowers and had a layer of what you could only assume was sand at the bottom but not dry sand, no;  _ wet _ sand filled up an eight of the jar but nothing else looked wet at all, not even a little damp.

  
  


“What?” Namjoon mumbled leaning down a little to peer into the jar. “Where did you get it?” 

  
  


“Some random old lady in the street just gave them both to me, plus an orange but that’s in my truck. I’m smart enough to be able to name that as a tasty snack at the very least.” 

  
  


“Hmm, I think this is going to take a minute, why don’t you come up to the apartment? I’ve left Yoongi’s potion brewing and it’s best not left unattended.” 

  
  


“Oh, sure, okay.” You agreed with a nod while Namjoon picked up the jar and walked away, not giving you much of an option but to follow. 

“Is it okay to leave Yoongi rolling around in that stuff?” You questioned once in the backroom where Namjoon stood by the only other door in the room, in the back right corner which wasn’t visible at first due to the stacks of shelving.

You had never been to Namjoon’s apartment, you had never even seen the door open before either so had always assumed it was extra storage but now that you could see inside, you could see it hid a spiral staircase made of wood and an emergency door that must’ve exited into the alley.

  
  


“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Namjoon waved dismissively before heading up the steps knowing you were close enough to follow.

  
  


The stairs lead to a large room with wooden flooring and more shelves just like the back room held; all filled with the same assortment of items, plus a few pots and utensils in a range of sizes, styles and materials.

  
  


Namjoon led you through the labyrinth of shelves, eyes glued to the jar as he moved and you were concerned that he would walk into something or trip over but he somehow made it all the way through without any issue. 

  
  


Suddenly daylight filled the space revealing a spacious living area with comfy looking sofas and seating in a matching shade of deep jewel purple, a colour that surprised you for Namjoon but you weren’t about to judge him for his choice in colour palette. 

Namjoon plopped down in the centre of the three-seater sofa so you sat down beside him wanting to see whatever he saw too.

  
  


“Any clue what it all is?” You questioned after, at minimum, fourteen minutes of silent staring.

  
  


“Potentially,” 

  
  


“Potentially?” 

  
  


“Potentially.” 

Well, how could you question such a solid answer?

You watched as Namjoon carefully placed the jar down before he jumped up and rushed back into the maze of shelves. There was no way you were going to attempt to locate him so you simply stayed put and waited patiently. 

“Gems aren’t really my area of expertise, I know a little but not enough to be able to name them all off the top of my head.” He announced as he plopped back down beside you with a book open in one hand while the other flicked through the pages.

  
  


“That’s coriander, right?” You questioned, pointing out the familiar-looking green herb. 

  
  


“It is,” He confirmed, smiling a little at you before tilting his head ever so slightly with curiosity. 

“Recognise anything else?”

  
  


“I’m pretty certain that’s wet sand only I’ve no idea how it’s staying wet without transferring liquid onto anything else.” You stated prodding at the glass where the mass of grains laid unbothered by your frustration.

  
  


“Magic,”

  
  


“Sure,” You rolled your eyes still unwilling to believe in such a thing despite having no logical explanation for the phenomenon before you. 

“Kidney beans,” You noticed, staring at the little red beans. “And other stuff.” 

  
  


“Other stuff indeed,” He chuckled then shuffled forward to pick the back jar up and point out the little brown seeds. “Caraway seeds,” His finger moved to the slim green leaves “and wormwood.” Namjoon placed down the jar to pick the book back up from where it lay open upon his thighs. 

“The beads are copal,” Your eyes found the yellow circular objects with a hole through each centre. “I’m pretty sure that’s gold calcite which is good because that’s often used for improving memory so it’d be pretty ironic if I forgot it.” 

  
  


“It would need a new job.” 

  
  


“It would,” He chuckled, turning through the pages until he stopped on a green gem called malachite. Your eyes drifted to the jar to find that the green gems within matched the picture in the book. 

“Malachite, okay,” He hummed, eyes skimming over the description and uses section before he continued to flick through the book which you only then realised was an encyclopedia of sorts for gemstones, alphabetically organised, of course. 

Honestly, it looked kind of interesting; you were unaware that so many stones supposedly had uses and meanings. To you a stone was a stone, some were prettier than others and worth more but the ones that were used for “magic” were cheap tricks to fool tourists and fools. That was how you were raised and despite wanting to distance yourself from the couple that raised you with such disbelief and distaste for anything claiming to be of magical origin or relation, you couldn’t remove a teaching so deeply ingrained within your being.

  
  


A handful of pages later, Namjoon found the final item in the jar.

  
  


“Obsidian.” You read the name of the black stone aloud. He hummed, eyes dragging down the page to absorb the information there. 

“So, I assume this is supposed to mean something according to your books and brain,” You mused leaning back against the fluffed up pillows behind you. 

  
  


“Yeah, everything means something,” Namjoon replied distractedly as he flicked between four pages; the four pages of the four stones in your jar.

“This is what we call a spirit jar,” He informed putting down the book to pick the jar up and turn to you, leaning his right shoulder against the back of the sofa to face you and held the jar up between you, both of your gazes glued to it. 

“Originally they were used to placate evil spirits or what people assumed were evil spirits living within others. This was way before humanity understood mental illness and things like psychosis.” 

  
  


“I have a feeling you’re not going to say that stranger of an elderly lady thinks I’m possessed so this isn’t an old school spirit jar.” 

  
  


“Correct. Spirit jars in modern settings are used as a kind of blessing sometimes like you can fill them with things that help love or fertility and place it in your home to improve those things.” 

  
  


“Okay, right and what does this one mean?” 

  
  


“A lot of these things can mean different things, just like anything can and it depends on the setting and the intention to the effect they have but seeing as these have all been put together clearly they are all being used for the same reason,” He paused to take a deep breath before exhaling it. “Y/N, I think you may know more about everything than you’re aware of.” 

  
  


“What? What does everything mean?” 

  
  


“Why you have the deed, what you’re doing here, who the Kangs were even.” He lowered the jar to finally look at you. “I think you might’ve been here before, when you were little.” 

  
  


“Why the hell would you think that?” Your eyebrows furrowed deeply with bewilderment. You hadn’t ever left your hometown before moving to this entirely new country those months back.

  
  


“I’m pretty sure the woman that gave you this is an elder here, like the oldest person in town. She’s kind of a local legend in a way because she’s so rarely seen and no-one actually knows where she lives or how she survives when she’s seen so little in town. But when she does turn up, which is like maybe once a year if that, she always finds someone specific and gives them something. Whatever she gives them helps them in a way they may not have known they needed. She’s never wrong, ever.”

  
  


“Right and she’s helping me by doing what exactly?” You encouraged, motioning to the jar. 

  
  


“This jar, based on the most common use of all the ingredients within, is for unveiling a mystery, specifically within yourself.”

  
  


“A mystery within myself?” You repeated. Namjoon nodded seriously and you opened your mouth to say how ridiculous that all was but then that particular wall in your cabin popped into your mind and you closed your mouth, head lowering slightly as for the first time in your life, you genuinely wondered if something like magic could be real. Not of course in the sense of “abracadabra you’re a frog” because magic simply isn’t real and that would be ridiculous but more in the way you were somewhat familiar with; feeling, instinct. 

The feeling when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you turn to find someone watching you. 

The time when your stomach turned and you knew something bad was going to happen so you stopped to figure out what, just in time for a car to swerve onto the path where you would’ve been standing if not for the feeling in your gut; instinct.

Maybe that was what magic was after all. 

That which you couldn’t explain with logic but couldn’t deny existed.

  
  


“You...you believe it, don’t you?” He gasped. “You believe in magic!” 

  
  


“Not the wands and witches and robes but...some things can’t be explained with science and reason yet still are as real as you and I.” 

  
  


“What else could that be if not magic?” He was grinning when you looked up at him. 

“So what convinced you?” 

  
  


“In my house, there’s a wall...but it feels wrong. It feels like there should be something else there, maybe a closet or something because it’s not big enough for a room but there’s nothing.” 

  
  


“Oh,” A look of thoughtfulness came over his features. “That is unusual. Tae hasn’t mentioned it.” 

  
  


“I’ve only recently thought it myself and he’s never been in the pantry so he wouldn’t know the dimensions feel off.” He hummed in thought. 

“I tried to make sense of it by measuring the length of the pantry and bathroom and adding them together; I was certain that they’d equal less than the length of the outside wall but they don’t. But it still feels wrong. Is that crazy of me?” 

  
  


“No no no!” Namjoon shook his head madly and reached out to take your hands into his. “Never think you’re crazy for feeling this way. From the first day I met you, hell from the first day any of us met you, we knew your instincts are perfect so if you feel like something is going on with that wall, something is going on with it.” 

By looking at the serious shadow in his eyes, you knew Namjoon believed you with everything in him. He didn’t think you were crazy like you yourself had started to believe. He accepted your gut feeling without a single doubt. No-one had portrayed such faith in you before and it made your heart swell with joy. 

Namjoon was really growing into such a great friend you didn’t think you could ever part with him.

  
  


“Thank you, Namjoon, for believing so strongly in me.”

  
  


“You’ve never given me a reason not to.” You smiled at one another before turning when you heard lazy little padding on the wooden flooring. Yoongi was absolutely covered in catnip, his eyes hazy and heavy as he sauntered over and clumsily clambered up onto your lap before dropping down with a huff to nudge your hands with his nose. You giggled and gently pulled your hands from Namjoon’s to begin petting the feline.

“I’ve never seen him so chill and that’s saying something because he’s the laziest little shit going.” Namjoon laughed, picking pieces of green from white fur and dropping them onto the coffee table beside the jar. 

  
  


“Hang on, if the jar means something, does that mean the catnip and orange do too?” Namjoon froze in his movements so you looked up at him to find him staring wide-eyed at the lounging cat on your lap. 

“Namjoon?” 

  
  


“True love, they mean true love.” He murmured, gaze lifting to meet yours. There was a heaviness in his eyes that you didn’t understand and couldn’t for the life of you grasp despite feeling as if it was important. Namjoon wouldn’t look at you that way otherwise. 

“They are both items you are supposed to give to your true love.” 

  
  


“Are you saying that lady is my true love?” You looked entirely unimpressed and Namjoon snorted out a laugh.

  
  


“No. She just hands things out for others to pass on but I’ve never heard of her giving out love offers like this. Spirit love jars, sure but not this.” 

  
  


“Cat drugs and citrus fruit? It’s not that deep come on, Joon.” 

  
  


“They’re powerful symbols for love. Oranges especially, those symbolise soulmates which are so rare. She must believe you have one that you’ll meet soon.” 

  
  


“Right, okay,” You couldn’t help but laugh. “And what’s the special meaning of catnip? Other than getting Yoongi high.”

  
  


“You’re supposed to give it to your true love to speed up the process.” 

  
  


“Aw, is Yoongi my true love?” You cooed picking up the cat to nuzzle your nose against his. He meowed at you before purring deeply and nuzzling you back. “Well I think it worked, I think he loves me more than before now that I gave him drugs.” You mused putting the feline back down to allow him to curl back up on your lap but he didn’t stop purring. 

  
  


Namjoon didn’t comment and you hadn’t expected him to, you were joking after all. Yoongi was a cat, there was no way he could seriously be your “true love” unless he could magically turn into a human which as you knew was not possible because that kind of magic does not exist. Obviously.

  
  


*

  
  


You had barely placed the jar down on your kitchen counter when the front door flew open sudden enough to scare you. Instinctively, you grabbed the first thing within reach and launched it at the intruder as you whipped around. 

Immediately your heart rate began to calm and you let out the breath that you had sucked in upon finding Jeongguk standing by the open front door with your projectile grasped in his hand. 

  
  


“Thanks, I wanted a snack,” He grinned cheekily, lifting his free hand to start to peel the fruit while kicking the door shut gently behind him. 

  
  


It wasn’t until he was already halfway through the fruit that it clicked that you hadn’t bought any oranges recently so the citrus that Jeongguk was happily munching on as he laid across the sofa with his head pillowed on your thighs was the same one the elder gave you. 

  
  


It felt like it meant something for Jeongguk to be the one to have received the orange from you, however unintentionally.

  
  


“Oh,” You breathed out, blinking down at him in surprise. He lifted an eyebrow curiously. 

“Do you believe in magic?” His chewing paused before slowly resuming. He knew you didn’t and you two never discussed it further than the first time so he was puzzled, to say the least.

“Not like... _ magic _ magic but I guess like...fate. Instinct, gut feeling...true love.” 

  
  


“Yeah.” He answered easily, surprising you. You had never imagined Jeongguk to be one to believe in fate and such things but, there he was, proving you wrong.

“Do you?” 

  
  


“I...instinct yes.” 

  
  


“And...true love?” You sucked on your lip nervously. If you agreed, well then what did that say about your feelings for Jeongguk? That would mean admitting to yourself and him that there was more to your relationship than what you showed on the surface, even if he wouldn’t understand what that simple yes would really mean.

  
  


“Being destined to be with one person would remove free will from us and that...what are we without our freedom?” 

It wasn’t a yes but it wasn’t a no. It was the best you could give and Jeongguk could see that. 

  
  


“I guess that’s a fair point but I believe that even if true love wasn’t a fated thing, you would still fall for the same person.” 

  
  


“But without fate, would you even meet them?” 

  
  


“I believe so. If I don’t believe in fate and true love, I don’t have anything to hold onto, no reason to keep living.” He shrugged, popping the last orange segment into his mouth

  
  


“Everything happens for a reason?” You questioned and he nodded. “So us? We were meant to happen?” He blinked a few times before swallowing and sitting up by your side so you were face to face. 

  
  


“Fate brought us together, Y/N but it won’t ever tear us apart,” He lifted a hand to cup your jaw gently and press a soft kiss to your lips. “I won’t let it. I’m not letting you go without a fight.” 

  
  


“Good.” 

  
  


As you climbed into his lap you weren’t really certain of a lot right then; if the jar would work, if true love was real, if anything more would come of your relationship with the man you were straddling but you knew one thing for certain.

You were not going to tell Namjoon whose hands the orange wound up in. 


	7. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 4.9k  
> Warnings; Mentions of verbal abuse/assault. Implied sexual content. Grown adults meaninglessly being cruel.

It was the day that you were set to meet Jeongguk’s adoptive brothers so you had decided to travel into town to purchase some fresh meat and restock your pantry ready for the lunch that you had offered up. And for the first time since you had met him, Jeongguk accompanied you to the store. You had never even seen him in town before and he hadn’t mentioned going to any shop ever. So it was new and although you had originally been excited about the prospect of a new adventure for Jeongguk and yourself to take together, the closer you got to town, the tenser Jeongguk grew in your passenger seat and the more your stomach prickled with some form of anxiety; something you hadn’t felt in months.

  
  


“What-what are you doing?” Jeongguk stammered utterly bewildered when you pulled over to the side of the road just outside of the treeline right before the dirt track turned into tarmac.

His eyes darted all over the place as you pulled the handbrake. His own hands stretched out in the air uselessly as if he was about to take the brake back off himself before his fingers returned to fiddling with his seatbelt.

  
  


“Do you want to go home? Should we cancel lunch?” You questioned after twisting in your seat to face him.

  
  


“What? No! I want you to meet them. I don’t want to cancel.” 

  
  


“Okay good, I want to meet them too.” He smiled fondly at that, as he did every time you mentioned wanting to get to know his family.

“Do you want to wait at home and I’ll go get everything myself?” Jeongguk shook his head firmly. “Are you sure?” 

  
  


“Yes.” 

  
  


“Then why have you been getting worse the closer we get?” He licked his lips and swallowed thickly but said nothing. “Guk, if you don’t tell me I can’t help settle you.” 

  
  


“It’s not your problem to deal with, Y/N, it’s mine.”

  
  


“ _ You _ are my problem so your problems are by default mine.” 

  
  


“Wow, that gives me so much faith in our relationship-” His deadpan speech cut off at his own words and his tone turned nervous “Like not boyfriend girlfriend thing because I mean like that’s not...or do you...we’ve never discussed it and I’m not assuming we’re together like that I just mean...whatever we are doing...together...us…” 

  
  


“The term relationship isn’t just for serious romantic relationships,” You answered automatically, your own nerves and thumping heart hiding behind the urge to help and protect the precious male you cared so deeply about. “Like family is one, like you and your hyungs and friendship like me and Tae so we do have a relationship, you and I; you were valid using that term about us.” Jeongguk’s mouth opened and closed a few times as his eyebrows furrowed, something in your words having sent his mind in another direction.

“What?” 

  
  


“Tae?” You nodded simply, also growing confused. Surely you had mentioned Taehyung before. “Like-who is that?”

  
  


“Taehyung, my friend, he’s teaching me about gardening and helps me with mine.”

  
  


“As in the guy that owns the gardening supply store?” You nodded again. “Huh,” He turned to stare out the windscreen, an expression on his features that you couldn’t decipher. 

“Didn’t know you’re friends.” 

  
  


“Yeah, he’s my closest friend here.”

  
  


“Closer than us?” 

  
  


“No.” It was Jeongguk’s turn to nod but he said nothing more. You watched him for a few minutes before opening your mouth to speak again.

“What is it? Do you two have problems like you seem to with Namjoon?”

  
  


“You’re friends with him too?!” He gawped at you.

  
  


“Yeah, he’s a good guy and his cat really likes me.”

  
  


“You keep away from that cat, Y/N, he’s bad news.” He warned sternly, even pointing a finger at you. Your eyebrows furrowed as your eyes squinted into a glare. Jeongguk’s hand immediately dropped and he lowered his gaze. 

“Sorry,” He mumbled quietly. 

“I don’t want you getting hurt. I care about you, a lot.” Your whole demeanour softened at his quiet confession.

  
  


“I won’t. I have good instincts and I’ve never felt threatened or in danger around any of them.” 

  
  


“Even the clumsy witch and his cauldrons?” 

  
  


“I assume you mean Namjoon,” You chuckled. “I only ever feel like he’s a danger to himself, never me or anyone else.” 

  
  


Jeongguk’s head lifted enough to study you carefully, pick out the truth in your eyes and scrutinise it until he nodded and settled back in his seat. 

“I trust your judgement, if you feel safe with them, I won’t say anything again.” 

  
  


“Thank you,” You smiled and turned back around and moved to take the brake back off but then remembered why you had pulled over in the first place so you turned back to Jeongguk.

“So back to why you’re so tense about going into town?” You offered, more a question than anything so that Jeongguk knew he had the option to not give you an answer if he really didn’t want to. 

  
  


“Your friends...they don’t like me at all. Well no-one in the town does really, never trusted my parents and always treated them like shit when we came into town so we stopped coming in and became as self-sufficient as we could. And then one winter I was really struggling to get by without them and came into town for supplies and found out that now the town’s hate has been passed solely onto me. Everyone blames my family for the Kang’s deaths.” Your eyes blew wide at that, surely Namjoon should’ve mentioned that specific piece of information if he was so concerned about your safety around Jeongguk.

“I already told you that my parents were close with the Kang’s, their relationship was great and they never would’ve done something like that but because of who we are, because we live away from others and don’t conform to society's expectations they blame us, my parents really but I have to endure it now that they’re not around to be hated and verbally abused.”

  
  


“Oh, Guk,” You unbuckled your seatbelt to lean over and wrap your arms around him. “I’m so sorry that you and your family have had to suffer that. Humanity sucks.” 

  
  


“You don’t have to tell me that,” He snorted out a scoff, one hand rubbing your waist softly as you leant back enough to look him in the eye. 

“I’m glad you’re a good one though, Y/N. Now I’ve got you in my life I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re more important than anything or anyone else.” 

  
  


“Your hyungs…” You mumbled, eyes gradually dropping to his awaiting lips.

  
  


“Aren’t you,” He replied in that same low tone before closing the minuscule gap between your bodies to slot your lips together.

  
  


Over the past couple of months, the two of you had learned how to get to one another; which moves to use, which words to say and had both grown very skilled at it. So the moment Jeongguk felt your tongue flick at his top lip, he pulled back shaking his head.

  
  


“Nope, we have to go get groceries, we can’t do that now.” He spoke determinedly, his whole body stiff and facing forward, eyes closed to not look at you. 

  
  


“Gukkie,” You cooed and he whined, fighting the urge to give in. “Baby,” With a groan he turned back to you to crash his lips to yours making you giggle victoriously. He was so weak for you, especially when you called him  _ baby _ . 

  
  


“Reverse reverse reverse” He chanted in between your lips connecting. You nodded and pulled back to take the brake off and put the truck into reverse so that you could back up into the trees and find a hidden place to park and clamber into the back seat after Jeongguk.

  
  


*

  
  


“Can we have lamb?” Jeongguk asked from where he stood behind you as you both stared into the meat counter entirely ignoring the way the butcher was glaring daggers at Jeongguk, much like the grocer had and the attendant at the petrol station.

The townsfolk really did hate Jeongguk.

But you did your best to completely ignore their obvious actions and focus on Jeongguk, make him as comfortable as he could be.

  
  


“Do they both eat it?” You asked, eyes already on Jeongguk’s meat of choice. He hummed in agreement so you requested the order to the butcher. At first, he didn’t move.

“Excuse me, my order?” You spoke firmly, raising your eyebrows at the man on the other side of the counter to you when he reluctantly pulled his fierce gaze away from Jeongguk. “Lamb for four.” 

  
  


“You shouldn’t associate yourself with the likes of him, Y/N,” The butcher grunted as he picked out your request. 

It never failed to surprise you that every single person in town knew you by name yet you only knew a handful of them in return. 

  
  


“As I’ve heard but he’s been a lot less hostile than you lot have been today.” You replied, holding out some cash after reading the total on the scales. The butcher tightened his jaw looking a little scolded but still mostly displeased with Jeongguk’s presence as he took your money and handed the bag over, glaring as Jeongguk took it from him with a bright smile. 

“Keep the change, use it to buy yourself a less judgemental attitude.” You offered before leaving the shop. Jeongguk happily trailed behind you with a little skip in his step. 

  
  


“I can’t believe you said that to him,” He giggled as you both climbed into your truck and he reached back to rest the bag of meat on the seat beside the cardboard box of produce. 

You just smiled contentedly as Jeongguk gushed about how cool you were defending him so effortlessly like you just had to a man three times your size who had a collection of big sharp knives on the wall behind him.

“No-one’s ever stood up for me like that before.” He ended his excited rant with a happy sigh, sliding down in his seat as you parked outside of Kim’s Oddities. Jeongguk tensed at the sight and straightened back up a little.

“Y/N? Why are we here?” 

  
  


“Namjoon gives me a new herb bundle every few weeks to refresh the one on my bedpost. I’ll only be a minute, you don’t have to come in.” You assured with a warm smile. Jeongguk sucked on his bottom lip and nodded before holding his seatbelt across his chest signalling he was going to wait in the car. 

“I’ll be right back, find a good station.” You pointed to the radio before climbing out of the truck and walking quickly into the store. 

Your steps faltered when you noticed that a man you didn’t recognise was standing on the other side of the counter, his chin propped on his open palm and his eyes closed. You couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not, he looked so serene. But as you reached the counter, his eyelids fluttered open to gaze at his customer. Immediately, his eyes widened and he straightened up to his full height, pink dusting his cheeks.

  
  


“Y/N,” He breathed out.

  
  


“Uh, do I know you?” You replied, pretty certain that you had never met this man in your life. For a split second, he looked offended before offering you a shy smile and rubbing the back of his neck.

  
  


“No, I uhm...Namjoon told me about you, I’m Yoo-Yoongi.” He stumbled on his name as if he wanted to stop saying it but decided he couldn’t.

  
  


“Yoongi?” You repeated and he nodded, swallowing heavily. “Like his cat?” 

  
  


“Uhm yeah uh-” 

  
  


“Hyung here has always been cat-like,” Came Namjoon’s voice as he appeared from behind the beaded curtain, the plastic spheres tinkling together as they settled from his movements. 

“So when I came across a cat that looks and behaves just like him, I couldn’t help but have them share a name,” He explained with a bright grin on his features, one arm thrown around the shorter, white-haired male’s shoulders. 

  
  


“That’s kinda weird.” You stated without thought. Namjoon barked out a single syllable laugh that honestly came across as awkward and forced but you didn’t have time to dwell on it; you had a brunette waiting for you and lunch to prepare.

“Anyway, I just came in to collect my bundle.” 

  
  


“Right, I’ll go grab that. Talk a minute; Yoongi is going to be around all the time now.” Namjoon slapped a hand onto Yoongi’s shoulder before turning and rushing out of sight. 

  
  


“You are?” You questioned curiously. Yoongi nodded, his head moving more than necessary as if he was still flustered and you wondered if that was a constant state for him. It was cute, you had to admit that much but if you were to deal with it all the time in his presence, you were certain it would soon grow tedious and irritating being unable to properly communicate with the man. 

“That’s good, Joon could use the help, he’s a scatterbrain a lot but I guess I don’t have to tell you that, huh?” 

  
  


“Yeah, he is.” He agreed, cheeks lifted into an amused smile revealing slightly pointier teeth than most people had and pink gums. 

  
  


The conversation fizzled out there but thankfully, the atmosphere didn’t grow awkward like you feared it would around the new person that you assumed you’d have to get used to. 

  
  


“Hyung!” Yoongi jolted at Namjoon’s yell before giving you a small polite smile and rushing out of sight. You heard a hushed argument before Yoongi reappeared, cheeks once again tinted a light shade of pink and a little baggie in his hands that you would return full of freshly picked herbs another day, as per usual.

  
  


“Namjoon is busy so asked me to pass this along.” He informed, holding out the bag cupped in his palms as if it was something precious, not a small collection of herbs and plants. 

  
  


“Thanks,” You took the bag. A tremor ran through your body when your skin brushed his. 

“Static,” You mumbled despite knowing for a fact that static did not feel like that.

  
  


“Yeah, static,” Yoongi whispered breathlessly. You held the bag to your chest as you lifted your eyes back to meet his. He was staring at you with something in his eyes that you didn’t understand. He looked at you as if he knew you deeply as if it wasn’t your first meeting. As if he wanted you to stay but knew you had to go. You didn’t understand how he felt that way about you already but there was something tickling your chest that felt awfully like a connection to the white-haired man. But it was impossible, how could you already have formed a bond with him? You didn’t know him yet deep in your chest, you knew you already cared for him. 

  
  


“I-I should go.” You informed, pointing behind you blindly. Yoongi nodded slowly, reluctantly and opened his mouth as if to speak but nothing came out. His lips remained parted as you turned and left, not looking back once despite wanting to.

  
  


“Are you okay?” Jeongguk questioned worriedly as soon as you had opened your door; he had seen your lost expression the second you exited the store and wanted to help ease your mind like you always did for him so easily.

  
  


“Have you ever felt like you know someone despite knowing you’ve never met? Like there’s some kind of connection between you?” You asked climbing into your seat and closing the door before reaching out to place the baggie on Jeongguk’s lap so that you had both hands free to buckle in and start up the truck.

  
  


“Uh...you met someone like that in there?” He replied entirely ignoring your question. You didn’t even notice his voice was weaker than usual, tinted with fear and confusion.

  
  


“Yeah.” 

  
  


“Who? I didn’t think new people came here really. Maybe you have met them before but just in passing.”

  
  


“No, I’m certain I’ve never met him,” You announced as you drove through town towards the trees to go home.

“He’s Namjoon’s friend, Yoongi.” 

  
  


“The cat?” 

  
  


“No, not the cat, a human.” You laughed softly.

  
  


“Yeah, that’s-” Jeongguk’s words cut off and he just hummed instead, turning to look out of his window as he chewed on his bottom lip, eyes tight with worry.

  
  


You were too focused on the drive in an attempt to keep your mind off the boggling feeling that Yoongi created within your whole body to notice that Jeongguk was caught up in his own thoughts the entire way back. 

  
  


*

  
  


Once back at the cabin the two of you went straight into the kitchen to start preparing lunch. But Jeongguk couldn’t focus on washing the vegetables, his attention kept turning to you where you were seasoning the meat in the roasting pan. 

With a heavy exhale, he placed the vegetables down in the sink and turned the tap off to shake off most of the water from his hands and dried the remainder on his jeans on his walk over to stand behind you before wrapping his arms around your waist and nuzzling your neck, right at back left crook. 

Instantly, your knees weakened and you threw your hands out to grip the counter and steady yourself. 

  
  


“Ba-baby,” You stuttered, unable to stop your eyes from rolling back into your head as Jeongguk pressed hot, heavy kisses to the spot repeatedly, his tongue tracing patterns before he suddenly bit down gently and sucked harshly. You shrieked, your body becoming boneless as you collapsed backwards against him with pitiful whimpers and whines. His hips rutted against you, a growl leaving his mouth around the skin he refused to let go of. He said something that was entirely muffled but even if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have understood the single syllable anyway, your mind was made of dense clouds. You couldn’t even decipher up from down, your whole weight was being supported by the man pressed tight to your back.

  
  


*

  
  


You blinked awake to a dull ache in your neck and warmth surrounding you. It took a few seconds for you to return to life and realise you were laid naked in bed. 

Turning onto your back, you realised you were alone but you could still smell Jeongguk’s fresh earthy cologne clinging to the sheets so you knew he hadn’t long left you. 

Your thighs protested when you clambered to your feet to pull on clothes but they always did after having sex with Jeongguk, he seemed to instinctively know that he didn’t have to go easy on you, yet it seemed as if he had been rougher than usual if the marks covering your skin were anything to go by at least. Jeongguk always liked to leave a few reminders of your intimate times together but never usually that many. It was like he was staking his claim on you and if the throbbing on your neck was anything to go by, in a very big and obvious way. He had never marked you anywhere visible before for the sake of your town trips. He knew the looks people give those with hickies and didn’t want to subject you to any negativity. 

You hadn’t yet bought a mirror for your bedroom so couldn’t check his damage until you made it to the bathroom. But first, you had to tend to lunch recalling that it had been left unfinished. 

  
  


A breath of relief left your lips when you descended the stairs to be met with the scent of lamb roasting away.

  
  


“Did you put the timer on?” You questioned shuffling into the kitchen to find Jeongguk back at work seasoning different vegetables in their cooking pots ready to put on at the right time. 

  
  


“Yeah,” Jeongguk nodded, turning to smile at you. It quickly dropped to be replaced with a guilty expression though. 

  
  


“What? What did you do?” 

  
  


“Your neck...I didn’t mean to make it that bad.” You raised your eyebrows before turning and retreating from the kitchen to wander through the living room and to the bathroom to peer at your reflection in the mirror above the sink. Your jaw dropped at the sight of your purple and red neck. The mark had even split in some places where Jeongguk hadn’t stopped but you guessed you hadn’t told him too either. You honestly couldn’t remember what had happened, your mind was fuzzy on the details; you just remembered that it was really good.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N,” Jeongguk apologised desperately as he stood behind you, both of your eyes glued to your neck in the reflection of the mirror. 

“I’ll go and get you a scarf or makeup or something to cover it.”

  
  


“No.” 

  
  


“B-but hyungs...” 

  
  


“They can see how much of an arse you can be,” You glared emptily at him before giving in at his heartbroken expression and giggled, turning to throw your arms around his neck and place a sweet peck to his lips. 

“I need to put salve on it and a scarf or something will wipe it off. And you can’t put makeup on an open wound, Guk.” 

  
  


“I’m sorry,” He whimpered nosing at the other side of your neck. “I won’t do it again. I just....I’m sorry.” 

  
  


“I know, Gukkie. I’m not mad at you. I clearly liked it and didn’t tell you to stop so you did no wrong.” He still made a sad kind of noise high in his throat so you pulled back to nudge his head with your nose until he straightened up enough to allow you to plant tender kisses all over his face until he himself was giggling instead of frowning and pouting.

“Go back to lunch and I’ll join you when I’ve put salve on this.” 

  
  


“I’ll do it.” He insisted, pulling back to locate the jar of salve you had used on both of you a few times for minor cuts and burns. It was in the cupboard on the wall near the window where you kept all of your medicines and first aid equipment. 

You perched on the stool that had been there since you moved in- like the majority of your furniture- and sat patiently while Jeongguk carefully cleaned your neck with a damp washcloth then applied the salve with gentle fingers before placing the jar back and washing his hands.

The two of you returned to the kitchen and did all you could before clambering into the bath together to freshen up ready for your guests.

  
  


*

  
  


At precisely 12:30 pm, Jeongguk opened the front door before you could even hear a knock to usher in two men. You wiped your hands on a tea towel before joining the three in the living room where the two newcomers were teasing Jeongguk about the love bite on the underside of his jaw- revenge you took on him in the bath, not that he at all minded, which led to him once again being buried within you for the third time that day. 

He had only just finished cleaning up the water that had splashed over the edges of the tub when his brothers arrived.

  
  


“Ohmygod,” It was the shorter of the two- that you knew was Jimin from Jeongguk’s stories of his brothers, the taller being Seokin- that spoke when he saw you, his eyes automatically drifting to the large mark on your own neck. “The fuck, Guk?!” He turned and hit his brother, looking rather angry for just a love bite considering he had just been teasing Jeongguk for the same thing.

  
  


“Min, let’s not do this here, we’ll discuss is later,” Seokjin muttered, gaze sliding to you once again as his shock at the sight of the mark passed. His lips turned up into a friendly smile. 

“It’s nice to meet you finally, Y/N! We’ve been bugging Jeongguk to let us meet for ages!” He laughed, walking around his brothers to approach you and bring you into his arms for a warm embrace.

“Thank you for being so good to him,” Seokjin whispered into your ear before pulling back, that smile back on his features. 

“It smells great in here! I can tell you’re good with your herbs.” 

  
  


“Oh, thanks,” You smiled back. “I’ve learned a lot about them recently and Jeongguk is always willing to help me test them out so it’s thanks to him being my human guinea pig that it smells so good.” 

  
  


“Well then thank you Jeongguk for always being willing to stuff questionable substances into your big mouth!” Seokjin barked out a laugh, looking at Jeongguk who looked the opposite of impressed at the eldest’s antics. 

  
  


“I should actually check the meat, it should be done now,” Jeongguk announced before walking past you all, ignoring his brothers but reaching out instinctively to ghost his palm over your back as he passed by you to enter the kitchen. 

  
  


“We made a roast, hope that’s okay with you both.” You informed, motioning for the pair to follow you into the kitchen which they did happily.

  
  


“We love anything with meat,” Jimin stated with a bright smile. You smiled back, glad to not feel any unease with either male.

“Guk loves lamb so I’m not surprised which meat it is either.” Jimin giggled, sitting at the table when you motioned to it, a silent invitation for them to take a seat at the already set surface.

  
  


“Neither am I,” You mused, placing one hand on Jeongguk’s back to let him know you were behind him so that he didn’t back up into you, as you reached for the bottle of wine on the counter.

  
  


Neither of you noticed how the brothers watched the easy way you and Jeongguk moved around each other as if you had been a couple for years and were used to entertaining friends and family in your home together.

The seated men exchanged a glance at the fond smile Jeongguk shot over his shoulder at you, as if you two were the only people in the room, and how you returned it with just as much emotion in your eyes.

  
  


“Get Jimin-hyung to open that,” Jeongguk muttered, nodding at the bottle before Jimin without looking away from you. You nodded and walked over to the table where the black-haired man was already standing to hold his hand out for the bottle. 

  
  


“Thank you.” You spoke as you handed over the bottle and the bottle opener. Jimin smiled at you and made short work of his task. He made a move to start pouring out drinks but Seokjin made a sound of alarm that made the younger freeze.

  
  


“You can’t just pour it out like that!” Seokjin exclaimed. Jimin sighed heavily but put the bottle down to flop into his seat with an eye roll. “You have to let it breathe.” You couldn’t help but giggle as you watched Jimin mime along perfectly to Seokjin’s words. Clearly, the eldest had said those exact words many times.

  
  


“Honestly hyung, we never let it breathe and it tastes exactly the same as when we do,” Jeongguk spoke, his voice getting closer to your back so you stepped aside allowing him to place the serving plate of meat in the centre of the table with the carving tools next to it. 

  
  


“Blasphemy!” The eldest shrieked making the three of you giggle. Seokjin didn’t look genuinely offended at all, most of it an act so you didn’t feel bad for finding the situation funny. If anything, you thought it was nice, to be involved in such normal family moments such as that. 

At the thought, your lips automatically turned down and your laughter slowly stopped until you were staring down at the table silently, memories of the people you thought were your family souring your mind.

  
  


“Y/N?” Jeongguk’s soft voice murmured your name from where he had moved to stand directly in front of you, blocking his brothers’ view of you, not that they were looking having sensed that you were suddenly not yourself and both wanted to give you privacy.

“What is it?” Jeongguk questioned, tilting your head up gently to meet his eyes. You blinked away the memories and smiled softly at him.

  
  


“Nothing, don’t worry. Let’s enjoy this time.” 

  
  


“I can’t knowing that you’re not happy.”

  
  


“Jeongguk, I am happier now than I have been in a long time.” You insisted, holding his hands in yours and squeezing gently. “I am so happy right here right now with you, meeting your f-family.” You couldn’t prevent the stammer on the word and just like that, Jeongguk understood.

  
  


“Y/N…” He pulled one hand from yours to caress your cheek adoringly “You said that my problems are yours too and those two idiots, they’re big problems, huge in fact but they’re yours too now. My family is yours.” 

  
  


“Guk,” you whispered, emotions clogging your throat and rising in your eyes.

  
  


“Family isn’t blood, family are those that care deeply about you. I care deeply about you and you care for me, right?” You nodded madly, eyes wide as if determined to convince him. Jeongguk smiled happily, front teeth poking through in a way you absolutely adored. 

“We’re your family now, Y/N.” 

  
  
  


“Okay” You could only manage to get out before leaning up to press your lips to his shortly. 

“Lunch,” You remembered pulling back to wipe at the unshed tears in your eyes as you turned to gather the serving dishes of vegetables. Jeongguk smiled dopily to himself before sidling up at your side to help.


	8. Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 1.7k  
> Warnings; Adult language- a single solitary swear word.

The next time you entered Kim’s Oddities, Namjoon was back behind the counter and stirring the right-hand cauldron that was bubbling away and letting off an honestly vile stench that made you choke on air.

  
  


“I know, I’m sorry,” He whined, leaning back from the concoction himself. 

“Yoongi used the wrong ingredient so I’m trying to salvage this but I don’t know if I can.” He sighed, leaning over the pot to peer inside only to shriek when a large bubble popped and a drop of the liquid almost landed on his cheek. He reached out to turn the burner off and stepped away. 

“Nope, no saving that.” 

  
  


“I think I could’ve told you that much, Joonie.” You teased moving closer to peer over the counter and into the pot yourself. 

“What is it supposed to be?” 

  
  


“You don’t want to know.”

  
  


“Pretty sure I do.” 

  
  


“Okay, don’t tell him I told you this but Hoseok requested a potion, off the books, for STI’s, like all of them.” Your eyebrows raised at the information. “Yeah, I have no idea how he contracted all of them so suddenly, he probably fucked the wrong guy again and got cursed.” 

  
  


“He does that a lot?” You mused. The look that Namjoon gave you made you cackle out a laugh. Clearly, Hoseok had a habit of sleeping around with all the wrong people and landing himself in trouble.

“I’m surprised, he never seemed the type to do that. But then again, all I know of him these days are glares and avoidance. You’d think I was the one with herpes.” Namjoon snorted out a laugh at that. 

  
  


“Yeah, well, that’s Hoseok for you; absolute joy unless he doesn’t trust you which unfortunately enough for you, he does not meaning you only get his bad side.” 

  
  


“Which I wish to avoid even more now that I know he’ll be pissed about his genital issues.” 

  
  


“Good plan.” Namjoon grinned, attention turning back to the pot. 

“I should really make Yoongi clear that up for messing up so bad.” 

  
  


“Aw give him a break, he’s new here.” Namjoon scoffed as if what you said was amusing. You ignored it.

“Would your salve not work for Hoseok?” 

  
  


“Only external symptoms. He needs something to ingest and the salve cannot be swallowed.”

  
  


“Can’t you make an edible version?” Namjoon tensed for a minute before blinking at you rapidly. 

“What?” 

  
  


“I honestly hadn’t even thought of that. You’re a genius! I’ll make sure Hoseok knows you gave me the idea!”

  
  


“Probably best you don’t unless you want to tell him I know his issue.” 

  
  


“Good point.” He hummed. 

“Hyung!” He suddenly yelled making you jump. 

  
  


“What?!” It had to have been Yoongi that responded but you had never heard him shout so the deep voice confused you for a moment.

  
  


“Come here!” 

  
  


“Thought I’m banned for the week?!” His tone was sarcastic, mocking and you snorted out a laugh. Namjoon gave you an unimpressed look making you giggle before he called Yoongi to hurry up. 

  
  


Yoongi appeared a moment later through the beads, grumbling under his breath, at least until he realised Namjoon wasn’t alone. His mouth slammed shut at the sight of you and he froze for a second before shuffling the rest of the way to join you both. 

  
  


“You need to clean up this mess seeing as you created it,” Namjoon informed, motioning to the cauldron. Yoongi grimaced but didn’t argue. 

“Y/N gave me an idea for Hoseok’s potion so I’ve got to go upstairs and make it, you’re in charge just... don't make anything else without my supervision, okay?” 

  
  


“Yeah yeah,” Yoongi waved Namjoon away and just like that, Namjoon sprinted off. 

  
  


“This must be hard to wrap your head around, all the different plants and herbs and such.” You commented while Yoongi tentatively prodded at the wooden spoon that was still in the pot as if something was about to jump out and bite him. You kind of didn’t blame him for being wary.

  
  


“Uh, yeah, it’s a lot.” He agreed, glancing between yourself and the pot before giving up and turning to give you his full attention. 

“I’ve never really paid too much attention to what Joon does and didn’t realise such similar-looking ingredients can have such drastically different effects.”

  
  


“Like sugar and salt.” He gave you a sheepish grin that made you laugh. “You really messed up sugar and salt? Out of everything he has here?!” His meek nod made you laugh harder.

Yoongi simply watched with a small smile tilting his lips as you doubled against the counter as amusement shook your body.

“Oh, Yoongi! That’s so bad!” 

  
  


“I know,” He chuckled, smiling wider when you straightened up, wiping at the tears that had leaked from the corners of your eyes. 

“I told him not to leave me in charge of it.” 

  
  


“Too much trust in you, huh?” You teased. 

  
  


“Yeah, never trust me,” He joked. You cradled your chin in both hands with your elbows on the counter while looking at him with a teasing smirk.

  
  


“Is that advice I should take to heart? Should I keep away, Yoongi?” His expression became deadly serious in a millisecond making you straighten up and drop your smirk; you guessed fun and games were already over.

  
  


“No, never stay away from me, Y/N. I’d never do anything to hurt you no matter what.” Oddly enough, you believed him. 

All you had in you to do was nod gently.

  
  


For a few minutes, you just stared at one another, the air becoming heavy and thick with something you couldn’t name but it wasn’t unpleasant or restricting. If anything it was charged and bristling, ready for something to happen, as if the whole world was waiting for something to happen between you two.

Before anything could or did happen though, you managed to drag your gaze away from his and collect your thoughts before looking back up and speaking, the air back to normal allowing you to function again.

  
  


“I have Joon’s herbs.” You announced, pulling the baggie that Yoongi gave you just under two weeks ago out of your bag. 

  
  


“Oh, right. Come back.” He motioned for you to follow as he went into the backroom. You quickly walked through the door to join him at the table where he was already placing jars each half full with different herbs or plants, all ones you picked for Namjoon.

“I can at least sort herbs, I know these because they’re rarer.” He explained as you placed the baggie down to open it and pull out the little bundle of one that Yoongi had opened the jar for already. You had seen Namjoon prepare and jar herbs and plants so many times and helped him a great deal too, so you knew what to do and started work plucking the buds from the stalks.

Yoongi looked at you once all of the jars were open and found you already perched in your usual seat working contently so he too sat and started to work on the next herb that could go straight into the jar.

  
  


*

  
  


By the time you left the store, it was dark out. 

You had spent all day with Yoongi; drinking tea and talking, making lunch and dinner together, watching a movie or three on the couch before waking up with a pain in your neck from the awkward angle that you had fallen asleep against Yoongi’s shoulder, with his fingers in your hair as he had fallen asleep playing with the strands. 

You had to fight everything in you to not curl back up and go back to sleep, you didn’t want to leave his side but a glance at your watch told you it was nearing 4 am so staying on the couch any longer wasn’t really an option.

You had tried not to wake Yoongi as you got up but the second your weight left him, he was groaning away and insisting he walk you to your car at your refusal to take his bed for the night and he’d sleep on the couch.

  
  


So there you stood by your truck with Yoongi in front of you and both unable to say goodbye first. 

  
  


“Is it bad that I really don’t want you to go?” He bravely asked with a weak chuckle, one hand rubbing the back of his neck while the other pushed deeper into the front pocket of his jeans. 

  
  


“I don’t want to go either.” You confessed.

  
  


“Then stay.” He sucked on his bottom lip before stepping close enough that the toes of your shoes almost touched his and reached out to take both of your hands into his. 

A shiver ran through your body that wasn’t from the night air. 

“Why deny us both something we want?” Honestly, you didn’t have a valid answer so you stayed silent.

“Y/N, come back inside.” He asked in a whisper, as if afraid you’d reject him. 

  
  


“Only if you stay with me.” You replied, watching as surprise took over his features before he nodded in agreement and let go of one of your hands but held the other tight to lead you back inside and up to his bedroom. You didn’t have eyes for your surrounds, only Yoongi as he led you to the large bed and pulled back the quilt. 

  
  


“What do you sleep in? I can lend you clothes.” He offered, voice still soft and quiet as if you two were sharing a secret. As if the world wasn’t allowed to witness your precious alone time together. 

  
  


“Just a t-shirt.” You answered honestly, not missing how he swallowed thickly at the information. “I can wear more if-” 

  
  


“No, no, fuck I wouldn’t dream of asking that.” He confessed breathlessly making heat rise to your cheeks before he turned and rushed to the dresser. He pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of joggers then returned to you. 

“I don’t wear t-shirts to bed, don’t usually wear anything but boxers but-” 

  
  


“If I don’t have to wear trousers, neither do you.” You informed, taking the joggers to toss them aside carelessly. Yoongi watched the material fly away as he licked his lips quickly then looked back you, finding you already removing your jumper.

  
  


“Okay,” He agreed and stepped back to give you both room to undress, eyes remaining on one another’s gaze whenever possible. 

Even once you were both in bed and under the covers, you still kept the eye contact up, both on your sides and facing one another silently. 

  
  


The sun was rising by the time you shuffled closer to one another, legs entangling and foreheads touching before falling asleep and dreaming of nothing but the other.


	9. Berries and dares and blisters, oh my.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 3.4k  
> Warnings; Scene with forced vomiting.

It had been quite a while since Taehyung had been to your home; he had been too busy with orders and deliveries for the upcoming change of season and crops to make visits up the mountain.

So you were pleasantly surprised to hear his sweet high-tone singing your name one late morning and edging around the cabin. 

  
  


“Tae!” You called excitedly where you were kneeling next to a patch of rapidly growing carrots, the bundles of greenery sticking out of the healthy earth making you excited for harvest time, which you had a feeling wasn’t far away at all despite all the books saying otherwise.

  
  


“Wow! Everything is growing so well!” He exclaimed appearing at the back of your home and sauntered over to plop down beside you and ran his fingers over the leaves. 

“These are going to taste so good, I just know it! You should pull a couple for lunch.” He grinned at you, not so subtly hinting at his desire for food.

  
  


“They can’t be ready yet, it’s not been long enough.” 

  
  


“I told you, the soil up here is different plus everything thrives under your touch! I can smell your strawberries are already about a week away from being perfect!” He enthused causing your eyes to drift to your strawberry patch by the shed. 

It was a fairly large patch in comparison to the spaces for other individual produce. But Taehyung was insistent that the Kang land always made the sweetest strawberries that he often fantasised of after being deprived of them for years. He had essentially guilt-tripped you into giving the strawberries their own space to thrive with double the land in comparison to your original intention. At least he’d be happy though so you weren’t upset by the little extra work; not if it made your dearest friend smile.

  
  


“Well, I guess you’ll have to come back in a week to help me pick them then,” You suggested with a grin as you looked at Taehyung. He looked dazed and in love and you couldn’t help but giggle.

“So these carrots.” You reminded so Taehyung turned his attention back to the ground in front of you both and helped to pick out the carrots that he felt would be ready and assisted you in pulling them out. 

  
  


Walking with Taehyung around your garden was always an informative experience. He would always tell you new tips and tricks for helping your plants grow well, keep them healthy and keep pests away, not that you ever seemed to have that problem. You had never once even seen any evidence of a hungry hungry caterpillar making a meal of your crops or unwanted bugs making homes on the stems of your flowers. It was very strange, you knew that much but you never focused on it, you were just glad that you didn’t have to use any pesticides or kill any innocent bugs that were just looking for a meal or a new home.

  
  


According to Taehyung, the majority of your garden had a variety of different vegetables ready to pull and eat so by the time you two made it into the kitchen with rumbling stomachs, you had enough fresh produce to create your first fully homegrown salad with some leftover meat on the side. 

It was the best salad you had ever tasted in your life.

  
  


***

  
  


A week later, much like promised, Taehyung returned wearing a strawberry printed t-shirt under his dungarees; he was clearly very ready and excited for a taste of your strawberries.

  
  


“I should’ve come as prepared as you,” You joked tugging the sleeve of his top teasingly. He reached out to tickle your waist in retaliation making you shriek and jump away to pick fruit from the opposite side of the patch as him while you both giggled happily. 

It was a good day to pick your best friend’s favourite fruit with him.

At least it was.

  
  


“Y/N!” You turned towards the treeline, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Jimin came bursting through into sight looking scared and beyond worried. 

“Do you have that salve left you used for your neck? Jin-hyung ate a handful of weird berries and now he’s got horrible blisters on his hands and is pale and growing weak,” 

  
  


“Where is he?” You questioned as you rushed into the cabin knowing Jimin was following.

  
  


“At the stream with Guk trying to wash off whatever he touched but he was starting to go all funny and dazed when I left. Guk is having to hold him up.” Jimin watched as you grabbed the first aid kit and shoved the almost empty jar of salve into the bag. 

  
  


“He can’t ingest this and I don’t have time to go see if the edible version is ready,” You muttered to yourself, already rushing past Jimin and back out of the cabin. 

“Tae do you know anything we can give someone to empty their stomach?!” You called as you passed Taehyung.

  
  


“There’s a plant on your land somewhere but it can be dangerous,” Taehyung answered immediately, eyes darting wildly around, from between yourself and Jimin to the trees and back.

  
  


“Take Jimin to find it and meet me at the stream.” You ordered not stopping to notice the look the two exchanged, one of disgust and hatred but even if you had seen the exchange, you wouldn’t have stopped to care. You had more important matters at hand. 

“Go!” You yelled once you reached the treeline and noticed that neither had moved further. You didn’t wait to see how they reacted but simply took off running in the direction that you knew the stream lived. 

It wasn’t a far distance at all, less than ten minutes at a hard fast run and you were glad of that, your thighs and lungs were burning. But Seokjin’s life was more important than your temporary pain.

  
  


“Y/N?” Seokjin garbled from where he was propped against a tree and facing your direction. Jeongguk was still trying desperately to wash his hyung’s hands and arms without damaging his skin further or bursting the blisters developing slowly up his arms.

Jeongguk turned to look at you, his eyes wide and so fearful that your heart trembled. You wanted to throw your arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be okay but if you stopped to do that it could rapidly turn into a lie.

Seokjin was pale, his skin was taking on an odd purple tint in places and pale red in others.

  
  


“Dry his hands and arms, anywhere infected.” You demanded. Jeongguk hesitated for a split second before doing as told. He pulled his t-shirt off and found a clean dry patch to carefully dry any water from his hyung’s skin.

  
  


Usually, the sight of someone’s blisters made you want to gag and run away and you certainly would never even debate touching them but it was Seokjin and he needed you.

Without thought, you dropped to your knees beside him and pulled the cleaning alcohol from your bag. You pulled the lid off and dropped it carelessly before turning the bottle over to directly pour the liquid over Seokjin’s dry hand without warning. He let out a weak scream from the intense stinging.

“I know, I’m sorry, gotta clean it though. I’m sorry.” You spoke, holding him still as you continued to pour the liquid over his entire left arm before holding the bottle to Jeongguk. He understood and poured it over your open hands before tipping the remainder over his brother’s right arm and his own hands. 

Seokjin whimpered and whined, begged and pleaded weakly for you to stop torturing him as you started to rub salve over his skin as generously as you could without risking running out. Then suddenly he passed out letting you finish his left arm in peace. 

  
  


Once you had wrapped the bandage around his entire hand and limb you rushed to the stream to wash the remainder of the salve from your hands. When you were back with Seokjin you watched Jeongguk wrap his right hand and arm before he moved to wash his own hands. 

Then, you both sat back and waited.

  
  


“Where’s Jimin?” Jeongguk mumbled, wide-eyes glued to Seokjin opposite you both but his own hands were in yours and holding on for dear life. 

  
  


“With Tae, getting a plant that’ll help.” 

  
  


“He should be here.” 

  
  


“I know Guk, I know.” You squeezed his hand a little, hoping to be comforting but he didn’t relax. You didn’t blame him.

“Shouldn’t be long.”

  
  


But in the next few minutes, they didn’t arrive and Seokjin was only looking worse; his lips started to blister too and his body began to tremble.

  
  


“Fuck,” you hissed realising what you were going to have to do. You didn’t know how long Taehyung and Jimin were going to take, if they would even make it in time and you needed to get the berries out of Seokjin’s system sooner rather than later.

Jeongguk made a desperate whine as you let him go to crawl back over to his brother but you ignored him. Seokjin mattered more at that moment. 

“Hold him forward.” You ordered as you pulled Seokjin’s unconscious body forward until his head hung down and his face directed toward the damp ground beside his body. Jeongguk scrambled over to follow your words and held his hyung bent over. 

“Sorry about this, Jin.” You muttered before sticking your fingers into his open mouth and straight to the back of his throat. He gagged and heaved but you just knew it was empty so you continued until you achieved your goal and the contents of this stomach flew from his mouth and onto the ground, partially landing on your left leg but you didn’t even notice.

It took almost a full minute before he was finished and slumped against his youngest brother, eyes barely open and breathing heavily but he wasn’t shaking anymore so you took it as a win. 

  
  


“Y/N?” Seokjin mumbled confusedly when he was able to speak even if his voice was hoarse. 

“What’s going on?” 

  
  


“How do you feel?” You asked, carefully inspecting his visible skin for signs that he wasn’t improving but his colouring was rapidly returning to normal, even his lips had stopped growing blisters.

  
  


“Like death would be a blessing,” He retorted glumly. Jeongguk chuckled and buried his face into his brother’s hair as he let out a breath of relief.

“Ugh I can taste puke, man I knew those berries were a bad idea.” Seokjin groaned cuddling up to Jeongguk’s chest and allowing the younger to cradle his weak body comfortingly.

  
  


“Why did you eat them then?” 

  
  


“Jeongguk dared me.” You gave Jeongguk an unimpressed look which he grinned sheepishly at.

  
  


“I’m sorry hyung. I’ll never dare you to eat weird berries again.” 

  
  


“Good, I don’t want your girlfriend’s fingers down my throat ever again.” You didn’t have it in you to correct Seokjin’s word choice and simply laughed which Jeongguk joined in with softly.

  
  


“Guk! Y/N! We have it!” Jimin bellowed as he barrelled into the opening, waving around a thick root in one hand. He slowed down the closer he got until he was just standing before the three of you, confusion on his face at the puddle of stomach contents on the ground. 

“Uh, guess this isn’t needed then.” He mumbled dropping his arm to his side defeatedly.

  
  


Taehyung appeared too at that moment and dropped to his hands and knees to suck air into his lungs desperately in an attempt to catch his breath. 

  
  


“Maybe force a little down his throat later if he isn’t better.” You suggested.

  
  


“That looks disgusting, I’d rather have your fingers back.” Seokjin gagged at the sight of the almost oozing root covered in not at all pleasant looking yellow spots. 

  
  


“Fingers?” Jimin mumbled, giving you a weird look as you got up. You just patted his shoulder with your clean hand and passed him by to crouch next to Taehyung and rub his back soothingly until he was calm and sat back on his knees.

  
  


“Is he okay?” He asked looking past you to find Seokjin who was dramatically guilt-tripping his brothers into waiting on him hand and foot for the rest of the week due to almost dying and also being unable to use his thickly bandaged hands.

  
  


“Yeah, he’s alright, he’s Seokjin,” You giggled watching as he wailed into Jeongguk’s chest for sympathy. You were already very used to the eldest’s dramatic ways and found them highly entertaining.

  
  


*

The five of you sat by the stream for a little while longer to give Seokjin some time to recover before getting up and walking to your cabin when you suggested it, knowing their home was much farther away than your own. 

  
  


“I think I should go,” Taehyung announced to you quietly as he pulled you aside before either of you could even access the front porch. 

Jeongguk walked inside first with Seokjin leaning heavily against him; the younger was practically carrying his hyung. Jimin trailed behind them but he hovered near the open front door, glancing back to Taehyung and yourself as if he wanted to approach and say something but didn’t have the nerve to.

  
  


“Oh,” You frowned a little at your best friend but you could tell he wasn’t comfortable around the brothers, that the bad blood between the townsfolk and Jeongguk’s family was dancing in the air around you all.

“I understand,” You smiled softly which Taehyung returned, glad you were honest and genuinely understanding.

“You can take all the strawberries we picked.” You offered after spotting two half-full bowls of the red fruit on the porch; you assumed it was Taehyung who had put them there.

  
  


“Really?” He lit up at the offer. You just nodded so he grinned and crouched down to tip all of the berries into one bowl which he picked up as he stood, then handed you the empty one.

“Do you need more seeds or anything? I’ll set you some aside as payment.” 

  
  


“Tae, you’re my friend, I’m not going to charge you for some fruit,” You laughed.

  
  


“I didn’t think you would, I was just being polite.” He giggled as you walked side by side to his truck.

  
  


“Actually though, you could pop into Joon’s on the way home and ask him if he has any more salve for me to pick up later tonight. And that if the edible version is ready, could he spare me a little for Jin?” 

  
  


“For you, yes.” Taehyung agreed. Despite blatantly telling you in that response that he cared not for Seokjin, you still smiled gratefully.

  
  


“Uhm, Taehyung, right?” You both turned to find Jimin approaching awkwardly, the root still clutched in his hand. Taehyung just nodded. 

“You’re friends with the owner of Kim’s Oddities, correct?” 

  
  


“I am, what of it?” 

  
  


“Do you think he could make use of this?” Jimin held out the root which Taehyung took with a nod.

  
  


“Yeah, Joon can make something out of anything. He’s never used this root before though but I know there’s some experimental stuff he wants to try.” Taehyung informed offhandedly. “Thanks.” 

  
  


“You’re the one that found it,” Jimin shrugged, a barely-there chuckle escaping his lips.

“Thanks, for helping with hyung, I know you don’t like our kind.” 

Your eyebrow raised with confusion. It was a weird way to refer to people that lived away from civilisation although something told you that Jimin really didn’t mean that anyway. What the hell did Jimin mean by his kind?

  
  


“I can’t not help someone when they need it, especially when my best friend cares about them.” They both looked at you so you slapped on a wide smile that had them both laughing. 

“Ah, so cute,” Taehyung cooed reaching out to squeeze your cheeks.

  
  


“She is, I can see now why Guk likes her so much,” Jimin reached out to ruffle your hair. You just rolled your eyes and let the two fuss over you. At least they were getting along. 

  
  


“I should get to Joon’s,” Taehyung spoke as he tossed the root into his open car and onto the passenger seat beside the bowl of strawberries.

“When should you be by for the salve?”

  
  


“I’m not sure, I want to make sure Jin is okay before leaving but I don’t want to leave it too late. No doubt he will want to go home and I don’t want to send Jeongguk through the mountain at night playing delivery.” 

  
  


“I’ll just say as soon as possible,” Taehyung chuckled settling in his seat and buckling himself in.

  
  


“Thank you, Tae,” 

  
  


Soon enough you had said your goodbyes and Taehyung was gone allowing yourself and Jimin to return to the cabin.

  
  


“I think I have some ginger tea, it should help soothe your throat and stomach,” You announced as you passed behind the couch, reaching out to gently touch Seokjin’s shoulder.

He hummed tiredly so you walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on to boil.

  
  


It was while you were leaning back against the counter waiting for the water to boil that you finally noticed the gross damp patch on your thigh. It took you a second to understand why your leg was wet but as soon as you connected the dots, you felt sick yourself. 

Luckily, Jimin chose that moment to walk in.

  
  


“You look pale, are you okay?” He asked, gentle tone full of concern as he approached you.

  
  


“Your hyung puked on me,” you mumbled, eyes wide on the patch. 

  
  


“Ew,” 

  
  


“Yeah.” You swallowed thickly. “I’ve never been puked on, this is gross, I feel sick.” 

  
  


“You should go clean up and change.” 

  
  


“Yes, I should. Can you make Jin tea?” You asked looking up at Jimin who was already nodding and pulling you towards the kitchen door. 

  
  


“Yes yes go, go clean up before Jeongguk has a breakdown with both of you ill.” He chuckled. 

  
  


“You’re ill?” Jeongguk immediately asked with wide worry-filled eyes on you where you stood with Jimin at the bottom of the staircase.

  
  


“No,” You laughed and rushed up to your room to gather everything you needed. 

  
  


Clearly, while you were upstairs, Jimin filled his brothers in on your state as when you made it back downstairs and were walking behind the couch towards the bathroom Seokjin spoke up, yelling over the back of the sofa to you blindly.

“I’m sorry for puking on you!” 

  
  


“Shit happens,” You replied with an amused scoff before stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door shut behind you.

Even though Jeongguk treated your home like his own and his hyungs were comfortable enough there too, you didn’t want to leave them without your company, it felt rude to you. So you scrubbed yourself down in the shower quickly and dressed even with slightly damp skin just to return faster to the three men in your living room.

  
  


Jimin was crouched by the small fire he had started to warm Seokjin who was curled up under a few blankets- that usually lived on the armchair- and tucked up against Jeongguk’s side when you rounded the sofa to get a look at the eldest. You were glad to notice that the blisters on his lips were already retreating. Though glad would be putting it rather lightly; let’s say you were pleasantly surprised because, in your experience, blisters did not begin healing so fast.

  
  


“How are you feeling now?” You asked. 

  
  


“Like someone stuck their fingers down my throat and I’m covered in itchy blisters,” Seokjin replied emotionlessly. Jeongguk scowled at his older brother who sniggered and shuffled up a little straighter to address you better.

“My throat and stomach are sore and my arms, hands and lips itch but I’m a lot better, thank you, Y/N. Seriously, you saved my life.” 

  
  


“That’s what family does, right?” You offered with a smile that was riddled with nerves. You hadn’t referred to yourself as a family before and were worried that Jeongguk’s brothers wouldn’t approve but they both smiled warmly at you.

  
  


“We do,” Seokjin agreed with a firm nod. 

“And as family I can happily tell you not to eat fruit that looks like nipples just because you’re dared to,” A laugh escaped your throat, finally aware of why exactly the boys were intrigued by the unusual berries in the first place. 

“It’s not berry nice.” 

Jeongguk and Jimin groaned and loudly complained at their hyung’s joke while Seokjin himself cackled away on the couch and you settled down in the empty space beside him with a smile on your face.


	10. Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 3k  
> Warnings; Adult language- Two lil f-bombs. Implied smut.

As far as you were aware, Jeongguk had left you in the pantry to decide what to have for breakfast so that he could run to the bathroom and empty his bladder. But something told you he didn’t rush off to use the toilet and when he didn’t return within a few minutes like he usually did, you grew confused and left the pantry to head towards the bathroom. 

  
  


“Guk?” You called. He didn’t answer. He usually always answered even if he was on the porch. 

Something in you told you to open the front door and who were you to argue with your gut. 

Once you were on the porch you saw a car you weren’t used to, parked beside your truck. Jeongguk was standing at the driver’s side door, hands pressed on the roof and leaning down towards the open window. His body blocked your view of the visitor so you had no idea who it could be but judging from how tense Jeongguk’s whole frame was, he knew the person and didn’t like them.

But then again, that could’ve been anyone from town whether you knew them or not.

“Jeongguk?!” You called and immediately his shoulders lifted and his grip on the metal tightened.

“Who is it?” You questioned, entirely ignoring his demeanour because honestly, you didn’t feel threatened by the stranger’s presence even if Jeongguk was trying to intimidate them, at least if his posture alone meant anything. It did. 

“Oh!” You beamed once you were close enough to the car and at the correct angle to see through the gap between Jeongguk and the open window. 

“Yoongi!” 

  
  


The white-haired male smiled back up at you from the driver’s seat.

“You didn’t come ‘round last night so I thought I’d come check you’re okay.” He announced.

  
  


“Oh, that’s sweet,” You grinned at his blush. 

Jeongguk scoffed and backed up to cross his arms firmly over his chest that if you were giving him any attention you would’ve known he was puffing out to look bigger than he was. And you would’ve laughed if you had noticed because even without the posturing, Jeongguk was pretty much twice the size of Yoongi, if not bigger.

“I’m fine, time ran away from us, right, Guk?” You looked at Jeongguk and your smile dropped to be replaced with confusion at his stance. 

“What are you doing?” 

  
  


“What?” Jeongguk looked at you bewildered from glaring at Yoongi. You nodded towards his chest. Instantly his arms dropped to his sides and he shrunk back into himself while his neck and ears burned. 

“No-nothing.” 

  
  


“Right,” You rolled your eyes and turned your attention back to Yoongi. He was smirking, understanding instantly that Jeongguk was absolutely whipped for you. But then again, Yoongi himself had never been softer for a person in his life. So, he couldn’t really say much. Though, it was good to know that all he needed to put Jeongguk in his place if the occasion ever arose was you.

“We were going to head into town after breakfast to get the salve, actually.” 

  
  


“Ah no need, here,” He grabbed the paper bag from the passenger seat and held it out to you. 

“Joon said your friend should take the elixir twice, once this morning and once tonight and then he should be fine but if not, one more morning dose should do it.” 

  
  


“Oh! There was some left?!” You opened the bag to peer in. Within stood two jars of salve, one large and one smaller- much like the one you already had- and a glass bottle full of a shimmering silver liquid, the elixir, as Yoongi called it.

“How much is a dose?” 

  
  


“Like a shot glass full.” 

  
  


“Jin loves shots,” You murmured. 

“Is it okay to use the salve while taking the elixir?” 

  
  


“Yeah, Hoseok had no problem.” You snorted at the reminder of why exactly Namjoon had to create the elixir in the first place. 

  
  


“It worked then? He’s all clear and ready to bone? I mean to go,” You grinned innocently at Yoongi who burst into laughter at your words. 

  
  


“Yeah, he’s all clean again.” Yoongi snorted, sharp teeth and gums flashing brightly at you with his amusement. 

  
  


“Good,” You smiled at him for a moment before remembering that the items in your hands served a purpose so you turned to Jeongguk and handed him the bag. 

“You remember what Yoongi said? How Jin should take it?” 

  
  


“Yeah,” Jeongguk confirmed. 

  
  


“Good, you have bandages, don’t you?” He nodded dumbly. “Wonderful. Off you go, the sooner he gets better the better.” 

  
  


“What?” His features dropped. “But, we haven’t even had breakfast yet.” 

  
  


“I think your hyung’s well being is more important than your stomach, Guk. Jimin’s no doubt making Jin stacks of food already anyway so it’s not like you’ll starve.” He continued to frown so you stepped forward to press a kiss to his jutting chin. 

“Go. I’ll cook for us all when he’s better.” 

  
  


“I can’t even see you until hyung’s better?!” He whined, seeming to forget all about your visitor.

  
  


“Family first, baby.” 

  
  


“You  _ are  _ family.” 

  
  


“You know what I mean.” You sighed. “Look after Jin, I’ll be fine here, I’m just going to be working on my garden and you only ever distract me anyway.” 

  
  


“Fine, whatever,” He sulked before leaning down to kiss your forehead. 

“Be safe.” 

  
  


“You too.” Jeongguk glanced at Yoongi and sent him a glare before turning to take off in a jog across the clearing and into the treeline.

“So,” You spun on your heel to face Yoongi with a shy smile. “Have you eaten already? Least I can do is offer you breakfast for driving all the way up here for me.” 

  
  


“You don’t owe me anything, Y/N, I wanted to see you anyway.” You stepped back when he opened the door and watched as he climbed out to stand opposite you once his car was closed up. 

“But I won’t say no to a free meal.” He grinned cheekily. You giggled and motioned for him to follow you inside.

  
  


*

At his insistence, after breakfast, you had shown Yoongi around your gardens where he got on his knees by your side to help you tend to your plants and harvest crops.

Then after lunch, you showed him around your land and pointed out all the places Namjoon’s regular plants and herbs grew that you picked every couple of weeks for him. 

Before you knew it, it was getting dark and you were both sleepy from the warmth and full bellies from the dinner that you had cooked together. 

Yoongi didn’t go home until the next morning when he left you on your porch with the feeling of his lips pressed gently to your cheek.

  
  


***

Stairs and a door. 

Stairs hidden behind a door. 

Stairs leading down to darkness. 

Stairs leading to something you never made it to. 

A door hiding secrets. 

A door hiding stairs leading down into shadows hiding secrets you needed to know. 

It’s all you dreamt of ever since you placed that jar full of oddities on your kitchen counter. And you had finally had enough. 

  
  


Taehyung looked up at you bewildered when you placed a sledgehammer on the counter between you. 

  
  


“That is not for growing crops.” He stated simply. 

  
  


“I’m knocking down a wall.” You replied slapping the correct cash into his open hand. 

  
  


“You’re knocking down a wall?” You turned to find Namjoon crossing the space of Taehyung’s store with a collection of small hanging baskets in his hands.

“Is this the one you think is hiding something?” 

  
  


“Yep,” 

  
  


“Why now?” He placed his items down on the counter allowing Taehyung to begin scanning barcodes. “You’ve been thinking that for months now.”

  
  


“I keep having these dreams about doors and stairs and I’m fed up.” The pair swapped a glance before both giving you their full attention. You were too worked up to question them.

“So I’m going to knock down that stupid fucking wall so I can hopefully dream of something else.” 

  
  


“So you think the dreams mean something?” 

  
  


“They mean I’m subconsciously obsessing over a stupid wall and need to get over it.” 

  
  


“I thought you believed in your instincts? If something inside you is telling you that the wall is wrong, then something is wrong?” 

  
  


You opened your mouth to reply but nothing came out. You did believe in your instincts, they had never led you wrong but you were beyond frustrated and exhausted with thoughts of the wall that you needed to do something about it before it drove you crazy.

  
  


Your friends exchanged another cautious look and you deflated. You were already acting crazy, that much was obvious.

  
  


“I don’t know what else to do. Ever since Yoongi left yesterday it’s all I can think about.” You confessed simply, missing entirely the way the two grinned mischievously at the mention of the white-haired male.

  
  


“So, hyung spent the night, huh?” Taehyung teased.

  
  


“He was only supposed to check on you and deliver the salve.” Namjoon pointed out.

  
  


“He wanted to look at my garden and then we lost track of time and it was dark so we went to bed.” 

  
  


“The same bed?!” Taehyung gasped excitedly, bouncing where he stood. 

  
  


“Well yeah, I only have one bed, you know that.” You gave him a confused look.

  
  


“He wouldn’t answer me when I asked where you both slept. He just blushed.” Namjoon giggled.

  
  


“Okay, what is going on?” You sighed heavily. “Why are you being so weird about us sharing a bed? We’ve done it before.” 

  
  


“What?!” Taehyung shrieked. “When?! He’s never been to your cabin before!”

  
  


“I don’t know, some weeks back, it was late and I stayed with him.” You looked at Namjoon puzzled, he looked as shocked as Taehyung at the news.

“I thought you knew? You live together.” 

  
  


“No, he never told me. I asked what time you left and he just shrugged. He blushed then too actually thinking about it. I’ve never seen him blush so much.”

  
  


“I didn’t know he could blush,” Taehyung muttered conspiratorially, a dramatic edge to his tone.

  
  


“Oh yeah, you should see him when Y/N is around, always smiling and pink.” Taehyung gasped and ran around the counter to the front of the empty store to flip the sign on the door to “closed”.

  
  


“What are you doing?” You chuckled watching him run around wildly for a moment as he tidied up and locked up the cash register.

  
  


“I need to see this for myself! To Joonie’s!” Taehyung urged, ushering you both towards the front door. The two of you barely managed to pick up your purchases before being pushed away from the counter. 

  
  


“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” You informed once your sledgehammer was in the bed of your truck and the three of you were in the cab.

  
  


“I don’t think you understand how big of a thing it is for Yoongi to blush,” Namjoon stated, looking thrilled himself.

  
  


Nothing more was said on the short drive or once the three of you made it into Kim’s Oddities where Yoongi was dusting a shelf lazily, the duster in his hand passing over the same section mindlessly as his thoughts wandered to more interesting subjects.

  
  


Taehyung immediately shoved you over towards Yoongi while he himself rushed with Namjoon through to the backroom only to appear peering over the counter seconds later. 

  
  


“Hi,” You greeted standing beside Yoongi all the same. He jolted out of his daydream and looked at you. His bored expression lifted into his gummy smile. Taehyung squealed. You both looked over at the counter to find two tufts of hair and nothing else. Namjoon and Taehyung were not very good at hiding in a rush it seemed. 

  
  


“What are they doing?” Yoongi muttered confusedly, recognising the two different hair shades instantly.

  
  


“Being weird.” You shrugged. 

“Want to ditch them and help me destroy a wall?” He looked at you intrigued. “At my place, there lives a wall I hate. Just bought a sledgehammer. Wanna help and escape thing one and thing two?” 

  
  


“You know what? We could literally just sit and stare at the wall and it’d be preferable to being around those idiots acting like this.” He agreed, leaving the duster on the shelf carelessly to shepherd you out of the store and into your truck. 

  
  


*

  
  


Yoongi stood by your side and stared at the dented and chipped wall curiously. 

  
  


You had been swinging the hammer with all your might at the surface but it refused to fall; all you had succeeded in doing was taking chunks out of the plasterboard in a few places which revealed solid brick underneath. Why exactly the cabin that you thought was made of wood was actually made of brick was something you didn’t understand but didn’t focus on either.

  
  


“What the fuck?!” You shrieked through heavy breaths. You were giving it your all but nothing happened. “I can’t be that weak, look at the hammer!” So he did only to find that chunks of the hammer were missing. 

  
  


“No, it’s not you, it’s the wall.” Yoongi agreed, reaching out to place his palm flat against a dent. “This is weird, I’ve never seen anything like this.” 

  
  


“What do I do? I need to knock it down.” Yoongi turned to look at you confusedly, a silent question in his gaze. 

“Come with me.” You dropped the sledgehammer carelessly to cross through the kitchen and into the pantry. 

“Wall.” You pointed to the far wall which Yoongi took in before he followed you to the bathroom to look at the wall behind the bath. Without prompting, he left the bathroom to return to the barely damaged wall. 

  
  


It was obvious on his features that he had come to the same conclusion as you and you felt a weight lift from your chest. You were genuinely beginning to believe you were going insane. Jeongguk still didn’t understand your problem with that particular wall and you hadn’t thought to bring it up to Taehyung during his visits. 

  
  


“It’s all wrong, the dimensions don’t add up.” He finally announced.

  
  


“Thank you!” You exclaimed throwing your arms up before winding them around him. “Jeongguk never understands!” 

  
  


“Not surprised,” Yoongi scoffed, wrapping his arms around you and holding you closer to bury his face into your hair.

  
  


“Don’t do that, I’ve been sweating, my hair is gross.” 

  
  


“It’s not,” He mumbled against the strands. “Still beautiful.” 

  
  


“I smell,” You spoke quietly, the compliment playing on your mind like it always did whenever Yoongi complimented you in any way. He had a way of reducing your brain to mush and he didn’t even know it.

  
  


“Not to me.” Your cheeks tingled when you felt his lips brush your forehead in a light kiss. “You could’ve just run a marathon and I’ll still hold you like this, Y/N. I’ll take any chance I can get to hold you.” 

  
  


“Yoongi,” You breathed out and straightened up to look at him. He looked so genuine and honest. Your heart thumped against your ribs, reaching out for him desperately and for the first time, you listened. 

  
  


Yoongi’s breath caught in his throat when he realised you were getting closer yet he didn’t hesitate to respond when your lips pressed to his softly. 

  
  


Yoongi found himself in your bed for the second time in less than a handful of days but this time, neither of you were wearing any clothes.

  
  


**

Waking in an empty bed but still being able to smell Yoongi’s cologne on your sheets despite the fact that he hadn’t actually stayed the night, sent your mind reeling. You had shared your bed with Yoongi intimately, sexually, passionately. There was  _ a lot _ of passion, your legs still felt a little weak, but that’s beside the point.

Only a few days before, you had shared your bed with Jeongguk, felt his skin against your own, his fingers laced with yours on the pillow by your head as his body moved smoothly against your own in a way that only experienced lovers could replicate. Jeongguk knew how to move, he knew how to touch you, what words to say because he had taken the time over the past months to learn. 

But Yoongi, Yoongi just knew how to treat you, when to ignore your pleas due to overwhelming pleasure and when to slow down and let you recover and catch your breath. 

Yoongi knew you from the first moment your lips touched his but Jeongguk had to take the time to figure it out. 

That’s not at all saying you preferred Yoongi to Jeongguk because you didn’t, you don’t, that was far from the truth but that also doesn’t mean you prefer Jeongguk’s methods to Yoongi’s. They were both equal in your mind and your body knew it.

  
  


As you realised that, you also came to understand that your connection in the bedroom was reflected in your relationships with either male.

From the first day you met Yoongi, there had been something pulling you together at the chest. There had always been a connection between you where you just fell together naturally, where you fit together without trying. It felt like you belonged with Yoongi from day one and he didn’t even have to try to win over your soul. 

Whereas with Jeongguk, your connection wasn’t instantaneous. There was something, there was always something but it wasn’t noticeable at first, it had to be worked on. With every smile, every laugh and hand on the small of your back, Jeongguk chipped away at that which kept your bond from view. He made it happen over time and had to learn how to gain your affection but you knew there was still more to go. There was something in between your heart and his but nothing he did could change that. 

You had a feeling that even though there was something in the way, you would still feel as greatly for Yoongi as you did Jeongguk even if he discovered the way to win your heart. It would just solidify your bond into something neither of you could ever break even if you wanted to, much like how deep your connection with Yoongi felt.

  
  


You couldn’t believe your own thoughts but you were certain you had fallen deep for both men.


	11. rut-oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pure smut. You can skip if you want, the important bit will be mentioned in the next chapter anyway :3
> 
> Word count; 2.4K  
> Warnings; Pure smut. Adult language
> 
> pls be gentle this is the first smut i've written in a long time and i was internally screaming the whole time

It was while you were hanging up your sheets to dry that Jeongguk suddenly stumbled over and wrapped his body around yours, nosing at your neck and growling low in his chest.

  
  


“Guk?” You muttered confusedly. He whimpered into your skin, tongue flicking out as if he just couldn’t help himself. Your knees weakened. 

His chest rumbled against your back and set every nerve in your body alight, making his ministrations on your neck infinitely more powerful than usual and you whined.

  
  


“T-tell me you want me,” He spoke breathlessly, desperately.

  
  


“I want you.” And you did. You always did. 

  
  


“Thank fuck.” He groaned and picked you up, holding your body in his strong arms bridal style as he stalked determinedly towards the cabin. 

You looked up at his features. Sweat was already gathering along his hairline and you couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he had been doing to get so breathless and heated in such a way. 

His intense gaze flickered down to you as if to check why you were so quiet and you couldn’t stop the surprised gasp from leaving your mouth if you tried. His pupils were so blown causing his iris’ to seem nothing more than a fine circle of smooth brown tinted with the barest hint of something that seemed almost golden in the sunlight. 

  
  


“Gukkie?” You questioned, placing your left palm to his cheek with concern. He didn’t look like himself. He wasn’t acting like himself. Sure, he had turned up and the two of you had wound up tangled beneath the sheets less than an hour later but he had never arrived at your home with the single thought of bedding you before. 

His eyes fluttered closed at your contact and he stilled momentarily before pulling his head back and opening his eyes to allow him to focus on his path.

“Are you okay?” 

  
  


“Y-yeah,” He nodded, lifting your body higher in his grasp as he climbed the stairs so easily it was as if he didn’t have the weight of another working against his thighs. 

  
  


A short shriek left your lips when he tossed you onto your bed once close enough. Your body hadn’t even settled against the mattress before he was on top of you, moulding lips and the lengths of your bodies together.

  
  


“Been thinking about you all fucking night,” He grunted against your jaw as his lips and tongue worked along the skin, nipping and sucking the closer he got to your neck.

  
  


“Y-yeah?” You hiccuped when his teeth latched onto a particularly sensitive spot below your ear. He hummed in confirmation against your skin that was sucked into his mouth. He was determined to mark you as his own, that much was obvious yet you didn’t have it in your fuzzy mind to tell him to be careful. Your back simply arched towards him, forcing your chests together. 

  
  


A whine left your lips in complaint when the pressure of his body on top of yours lessened though you quickly realised he wasn’t leaving when you watched him hurriedly remove his sweat-dampened t-shirt before returning to you, lips finding the sweet spots on your neck with practised ease.

Large hands slid under the material of your own t-shirt to grasp and knead your soft flesh, little pleased sounds leaving his throat at the feel of you all warm and supple for him. 

His mind was a whirl of thoughts of you, things he had done to you, things he wanted to do to you. Memories of his name leaving your parted lips in euphoric moans. He  _ needed  _ you and now that he had your consent to have you underneath him, he was not going to waste any time. 

  
  


“Off off off, need you.” He grumbled moving up onto his knees to paw impatiently at your jeans wholly unable to force his fingers to function well enough to work the button. You slapped his hands away earning a displeased growl which made you falter in shock. 

“Sorry, please please please off.” He pleaded, fingers curling against your thighs to tug the rough material. 

You ignored his odd behaviour to do as requested. 

As soon as you had opened the fly on your trousers, Jeongguk was yanking them off your legs to toss the denim aside carelessly before all but tearing your underwear as he hurriedly snatched them down off your hips. 

You squeaked in surprise; he never usually pulled your clothing so roughly but you had to admit that there was a part of you that quite liked how fervent he was acting.

“Finally,” He groaned dropping onto his stomach to bury his head between your thighs and immediately plunge his hot tongue into you. Your hands flew out to take fistfuls of his hair as whimpers and moans flew from your mouth with every action his mouth took.

Everything Jeongguk did sent your mind whirling, something that usually took more of a build-up but he was achieving no matter what he did to you. Maybe there was something in the air, you didn’t know and frankly, you didn’t care. He was pleasuring you too well.

  
  


“All mine,” He grunted against you before sucking your clit in between his lips and effectively shutting off any argument you could’ve had before you could voice it. 

  
  


“Guk,” You keened, tugging on his hair to hold him tighter. His fingers pressed into your thighs in return, holding you open for him and boy did you moan at the simple action. 

If you were in a clearer state of mind, you would’ve questioned your own voice box for reacting so easily but you were not in a clear state of mind at all. Your head was almost full of soft fluffy clouds, gently shielding all rational thought from you.

  
  


His right hand left your thigh but you didn’t notice until two fingers were suddenly plunging deep inside you and curling immediately to locate that wonderful soft spot that had your eyes rolling back. 

Your hips gyrated and rolled against his hand and mouth, searching for that sweet release he was always so generous to give you as many times as you wanted. 

  
  


As the tightness in your lower stomach built, Jeongguk worked diligently, restlessly. Fingers rubbed and pounded you open while his tongue prodded around them, lapping up everything you had to offer; every drop that spilt he drank up greedily, whining with arousal as his hips rutted against the mattress for even a little release for his aching cock.

  
  


“G-g-gu-guk-” You couldn’t manage to utter even the shortest possible version of his name as pleasure shot through you when the tightness in your stomach suddenly exploded. 

  
  


“Good girl,” He grunted as you tightened around his two digits. He knew he’d have to work you back open for what he needed today but he knew you were easier to work with after your first orgasm, muscles loose and so wet he never struggled to slide inside without the need for added lubrication. 

  
  


“Kiss,” You demanded, tugging his hair again. He allowed the order and moved up your body to slot your lips together without removing his fingers from one of his favourite parts of your body. 

He hummed approvingly as your tongue searched for his own, unafraid of your own taste in his mouth. 

  
  


Your hands released his quickly dampening hair to drag down his bare back, careless for the thin layer of sweat already covering his skin, to grasp the waistband of his loose shorts and force them off of his hips. You hadn’t realised he wasn’t wearing any underwear until then but feeling his bare erection against your inner thigh made you moan needily and your muscles to clench down on the three fingers he had just moved up to. 

  
  


“Fuck me,” You spoke breathlessly, moving against his hand both wanting it to continue and wanting it to stop so you could experience the main event. 

  
  


Jeongguk leant over you with black eyes and heaving chest to find your own pupils large and glassy with arousal. He had never seen you so gone. He had never seen such an arousing sight. 

  
  


A low reverberating left his chest and he rushed to lower his hips and remove his fingers from you. He wrapped the wet digits around his cock and stroked it a few times to lubricate the entire length before pressing the tip against your awaiting entrance. He didn’t hesitate to thrust into you, burying himself halfway before stopping. Even in his frenzied state, he refused to hurt you by forcing his full length into you like that. But it seemed as if you had other ideas as you grabbed his hips and pulled him into you. He groaned and buried his face into your neck.

If that’s how you wanted it, he would give it to you.

His hips pulled back as far as he could without risking losing the warmth of your walls wrapped around his hard length before pistoning forward again, his skin connecting with yours harsh enough that it would grow to sting but neither of you had the presence of mind to think about that. 

  
  


All you could do was hold on for dear life as he railed into you, one arm wrapped around your waist to hold you still and allow him to penetrate you deliciously deep. 

  
  


The light fluffy clouds in your mind were growing in mass and number, becoming so heavy and thick that you couldn’t form a coherent thought. Nothing but a jumble of Jeongguk, Jeongguk, Jeongguk swirled under your skull into a density that would soon render you unaware of what was happening outside of Jeongguk’s cock pummeling your inner walls relentlessly and eliciting such a mind-numbing feeling of pleasure and something you couldn’t name for you had never experienced it before.

  
  


Jeongguk’s mind held only one thing; you. He needed to fuck you into the mattress, he needed to make you his in every way and he didn’t have the mental clarity to understand he shouldn’t. That it wasn’t something he could do with someone like you. 

His inner self wanted you and had since he first saw you across the lake that day and he was finally given enough slack on the leash tight around his throat to take and  _ claim. _ You were his and the world would know it.

  
  


Suddenly, he wasn’t deep enough, wasn’t close enough despite your chests being pressed together.

The position wasn’t good enough. 

  
  


You only yowled pitifully when he pulled out due to the loss of his body against yours. If he was of sound mind, he would’ve taken one look at your milky far off gaze and realised that something was happening that neither of you was prepared for but as it so happens, he was far from of sound mind.

  
  


He kicked his shorts away as he manhandled you onto your stomach before lifting your hips high into the air making something in his chest expand with possessive appreciation. Your knees planted firmly down while your chest remained glued to the bed presenting yourself to him without even realising it. You weren’t in the state of mind to be aware of your actions. You were running on pure instinct alone.

  
  


Jeongguk grasped your hips firmly as he swiftly buried his cock within you, rumbling contently at the new position. It was exactly what he needed. 

  
  


It was at this point that Jeongguk really lost all grasp on the leash on his inner animal.

  
  


Tears and rips fluttered through the room as the material around your torso fell aside in tatters revealing your bare back. 

  
  


Jeongguk was highly pleased by the expanse of bare skin, that there wasn’t a single item blocking what was rightfully his from his eyes. 

  
  


His hips slapped against your backside when he resumed his frantic thrusts, wide stance giving him all the balance and power he needed to rock the bed and send the headboard battering the wall. 

You didn’t even care about the dents and scrapes forming. That your only bed was creaking and complaining with every movement and sounded like it was trying it’s very best to stay in one piece. 

You didn’t care because you didn’t hear it.

Your ears and body were attuned to Jeongguk and Jeongguk only, gasping and moaning his name as he grunted and groaned your own. 

  
  


“Mine,” He growled, swapping his rapid movements of driving into you to rotate his hips, dragging his cock over every inch of your walls making you cry out, unaware of the tears already spilling from your eyes at the overload.

He splayed himself over your back, one hand leaving your hip to push your hair out of his way so he had access to your neck. 

He had always loved your neck. 

The smooth unblemished skin he wanted to paint with his mark so everyone knew you belonged to him.

  
  


His chest rumbled against your back as he nosed at the curve of your neck, lips dragging along but not stopping. Until they did on a particular spot that had always been a sensitive spot to you; it was the same place as his weakest point. 

He kissed the patch, tongue laving over your salty skin, your hips automatically pushing back against his to get him deeper. 

A growl escaped his lips before they pulled back and he bit down. A loud cry of ecstasy shot from your lips as your walls clamped down on his length forcing him still in time to feel his cock thickening. 

  
  


Your eyes rolled back and you sobbed in pleasure at the increasing stretch near your entrance, barely even noticing his teeth breaking your skin and sinking in until the pain registered and a weak scream left your throat. The rumbling of his chest returned, a deep soothing vibration that quietened your cries until you were pliant in his hold. 

  
  


Feeling you relax in his arms sent Jeongguk over. His tongue flicked against the blood on your neck between his teeth as he moaned long and low and his climax hit him, hips rutting against you while his cock emptied deep within you. 

  
  


For a few minutes, Jeongguk didn’t move, he was dazed and his mind so full of cotton that he simply could do nothing but hold you up against his body where he still blanketed his chest over your back. Yet when he did manage to blink back to reality, he simply removed his teeth from your neck and carefully resituated your bodies onto your sides, your back still stuck to his chest with sweat and his cock still buried in your warmth. 

As he lapped up the blood on your neck to clean the wound, the rumbling deep in his chest didn’t stop. 

His wolf was sated.

  
  



	12. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 5k  
> Warnings; Adult language.

Disorientated didn’t even begin to cover how you felt when you woke with a heavy head. You didn’t even remember going to sleep. Thinking about it, you didn’t remember past Jeongguk’s head between your thighs. 

  
  


“The heck?” You grumbled, turning stiffly to peer around the dimly lit room through squinting eyes. The curtain over the window was pulled closed but light faintly entered around it. 

Did that mean it was already a new day? Another morning even though you could’ve sworn you were just starting one? Surely not. 

  
  


Your body complained as you forced yourself upright slowly, wincing at a sudden pain in your neck. You must’ve slept funny. 

Your legs felt weak as if you hadn’t really used them in days but the bruises and lovebites on your skin told you that Jeongguk really hadn’t held back on you. You weren’t mad at all. The marks looked pretty against your skin. 

  
  


It took you a few attempts to make it to your feet and only when you were upright did you realise that you felt oddly clean. Your confused gaze met clean sheets when you looked over your shoulder yet you were naked. 

What had even happened?

Had you managed to clean yourself and your bed up before crawling into it without remembering? Surely you would’ve put some clothes on before getting into bed but then again, considering how exhausted you felt, you didn’t blame past you for forgoing pajamas just this once. 

  
  


When you made it downstairs, with clothes on, you heard angry voices coming from outside. Limping over to the front door, you opened it for your eyes to blow wide at the spectacle happening in the middle of your front garden in the late morning sun.

  
  


Yoongi was by his car, face red and hands balled in absolute fury as he yelled at Jeongguk who looked awfully smug even if he too wasn’t too happy himself. Seokjin and Jimin were holding back their brother from getting closer to Yoongi. 

To stump you further, Namjoon was there too; he had never been to your cabin yet there he stood, arms around his housemate and holding him back with all his might. 

You knew the pair didn’t like each other at all but for them to be ready to physically fight, something had to have happened while you were asleep. 

  
  


“What’s going on?” Your raspy voice broke their swearing match and turned all attention to where you stood with toes wiggling against the dirt beneath your feet. 

  
  


“Holy shit,” Namjoon breathed looking at you. 

You looked down at yourself. 

You didn’t think you looked bad, even if you were in old sweatpants and one of Jeongguk’s long-sleeved black t-shirts. 

Maybe it was your hair. You had forgotten to brush it after all. 

So you raised your hands to run your fingers through the strands but it wasn’t particularly messy; you must’ve brushed your hair before bed. 

Nothing was out of the ordinary. Why were they all looking at you like that?

  
  


“Are you fucking serious?!” Yoongi suddenly bellowed, making you jump. 

But he wasn’t looking at you anymore, he was screaming at Jeongguk again who was no longer angry or smug but rather, he looked guilty, sad, heartbroken almost. You didn’t understand.

But then again you hadn’t understood a single thing since you woke. 

Everything felt off. Not quite right. But it wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling just...weird.

  
  


“It’s not like I planned it!” Jeongguk yelled back defensively, even if there wasn’t any genuine anger in his tone. 

  
  


“You could’ve killed her! In fact, you probably have! She can’t survive that you inconsiderate knot-head!” 

Knot-head? What the hell kind of insult was that? It was weak for Yoongi, you knew he had long ago grasped the concept of cursing due to how easily he did so as if it was natural for him. 

  
  


And then you absorbed what he said.

  
  


“Wait, what? What has he supposedly done to kill me?” You interrupted whatever the small man was going to spit out next. 

“I don’t feel like I’m dying.” You shrugged.

  
  


“You don’t feel ill or anything?” Seokjin asked carefully. You shook your head. “No weakness or lightheadedness?” 

  
  


“No, well I mean just...the usual kind of...post sex weakness.” You admitted awkwardly, not wanting to say as much in front of Yoongi but you also didn’t want to avoid Seokjin’s concerned questions.

“You know, sore thighs and such.” 

  
  


“Nothing else hurts?” 

  
  


“I think I slept funny because my neck hurts but-” 

  
  


“Have you looked in a mirror yet?” It was Namjoon’s voice that broke your response. You shook your head, furrowing your eyebrows confusedly. 

  
  


“I don’t think she should,” Jimin muttered.

  
  


“She should know what the fuck is going on with her own body!” Yoongi snapped.

  
  


“What are you talking about?” You murmured and turned to go to the bathroom before anyone could argue. 

  
  


The reflection in the mirror made your eyes bulge.

The left side of your neck was bruised and swollen beyond just the run of the mill hickies. 

You winced as you turned your head to the right slightly but you needed to see the source. 

At the back of your neck, settled in the crook leading to your left shoulder was the most vicious looking mark you had ever seen. It looked like an animal bite; puncture wounds and rises and dips indicating it wasn’t a shallow wound by any means.

But you hadn’t been near any animal in a while and certainly never close enough to be attacked like that. 

You quickly checked over the rest of your body but there was nothing out of the ordinary. 

What kind of animal would only leave a single bite wound and nothing else? No claw marks. No other bites. Nothing. 

  
  


Jeongguk was waiting for you in the living room when you stumbled out of the bathroom.

Correction; they were  _ all _ waiting for you in the living room; the air thick with fear and tension. 

Why were they so scared?

He jumped forward to support you and lead you to the couch where he sat you down and kneeled in front of you. 

  
  


“I’ll get water,” Jimin announced quietly before turning into the kitchen.

  
  


“What happened?” You asked, blinking at Jeongguk more lost than you had felt in a long time, not since you were handed a deed and told that you’re adopted.

  
  


“What do you remember?” Seokjin asked softly, crouching beside his brother but he kept more distance between the two of you than normal. 

  
  


“Uh, Guk came over this morning when I was hanging sheets out to dry and well we went to my room and...you don’t want to know the specifics but nothing much after that.” You answered easily. “Well, I guess it was yesterday morning now? Did I sleep all day?” You looked back at Jeongguk. 

  
  


“Actually, that was three days ago.” He stated weakly. Your eyebrows lifted in shock. 

There wasn’t a single doubt in you that Jeongguk was being honest. You somehow knew it was the truth as soon as he spoke.

  
  


“What the fuck?” You breathed, clasping the glass Jimin handed you in relief to wet your thick throat. 

Jeongguk growled lowly at his brother who backed up with palms up showing he wasn’t a threat, that he wasn’t touching you in any way. 

“What the hell is that about?” You demanded, almost glaring at Jeongguk for acting like that way. “What did he even do?” 

  
  


“Nothing,” Jeongguk admitted with a heavy breath. “I’m sorry, I’m just really protective of you right now.” 

  
  


“Which means acting like a wild animal? Since when do humans growl?” 

  
  


“Humans don’t,” Yoongi stated with a scoff. You raised an eyebrow at him inquisitively. 

“Aren’t you going to ask how you got that bite?” 

  
  


“Getting there.” You agreed with a nod but focused on downing the rest of the cool liquid before holding the glass back to Jimin who already had his hand hovering ready to take it, though his eyes kept flickering cautiously to Jeongguk. 

The youngest clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, fingers grasping your knees to ground himself until Jimin backed off with the empty glass. 

“Okay, what is going on? Why are you acting so weird? Why can’t I remember the past few days? Why did you look ready to kill each other earlier? But I guess most pressingly, where the fuck did this bite come from?!” You demanded, looking between them but mostly keeping your attention on Jeongguk figuring he could answer every question you had.

  
  


“I don’t even know how to answer any of those,” He replied honestly.

  
  


“With the truth would be great.” 

  
  


“I don’t know if I can.” 

  
  


“Then leave, I bet Yoongi will happily tell me.” You leaned back against the cushions and crossed your arms over your chest firmly. 

  
  


“No,” Jeongguk glared darkly at the man. “I’m not leaving you with him.” 

  
  


“You don’t have a choice if you don’t answer me right now, Jeongguk. This is my house, remember?” 

  
  


“I can’t,” He whined staring at you with eyes that begged you to believe him.

  
  


“You’ve already broken one of your kind’s biggest rules, might as well break some more.” Yoongi pointed out earning glares from the three brothers. “It’s not like she’s going to be able to tell anyone in a few days anyway, is it?” He hissed and boy if looks could kill, Jeongguk would be dead many times over. 

  
  


“What do you mean?” You asked, tone softer as you spoke to Yoongi. He seemed to be the only one willing to tell you anything. 

  
  


“That bite on your neck-” The white-haired man started to explain but Jeongguk jumping to his feet threateningly distracted him. 

“What? You clearly don’t have the guts to tell her what she deserves to know. Someone has to do it.” 

  
  


“You wouldn’t find it so easy if you were me!” Jeongguk snapped.

  
  


“I wouldn’t have fucked up so catastrophically either!” Yoongi retorted. “I don’t understand how you couldn’t just lock yourself up and stay far away like you’re supposed to! It’s not fucking hard!” 

  
  


“It is when everything in me is drawn to her! Since day one I’ve been pulled to her and you don’t understand how fucking hard it is to fight that when my body isn’t even my own! I tried so fucking hard to stay away but I couldn’t. If it was down to me, I’d take it all back if I could but I can’t so stop acting like I want to lose her because that’s the last thing I ever want.”

  
  


“Okay okay just take a step back and somebody explain. Why do you guys keep acting like I’m not going to live past the day?” You insisted, gaze not resting on a single person unsure who would answer you.

  
  


“You’ll wake up tomorrow but the day after, we can’t know,” Seokjin confessed, soft, sad eyes connecting with yours. 

“Y/N, there’s a lot you don’t know, things you were never supposed to know but I guess Yoongi is right, there’s no point hiding it anymore. Chances are you won’t make it to the weekend.”

It was Thursday.

  
  


“Because of this?” You pointed to your neck. He nodded. “Okay, what is it? It looks like a bite but like...it can’t be...right?” 

  
  


“It is.” He smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, Y/N but everything you knew about the word is about to change.” 

  
  


“Jeongguk, can you show me Y/N’s first aid kit? We should do something at least for the pain,” Namjoon spoke gently. Jeongguk hesitated, he didn’t want to leave your side and that was obvious to you all.

  
  


“I can show you.” Jimin offered, motioning to the bathroom. Namjoon smiled in thanks and headed into the room with Jimin behind him.

  
  


“How did I get the bite?” You asked attention on Seokjin. 

  
  


“I did it,” Your gaze lifted to find Jeongguk’s guilty expression. “And I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N,” He choked, collapsing onto his knees in front of you to bury his face in your thighs.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, I wasn’t fully in control, it was him inside me and he’s always wanted to claim you as his mate and that’s how they do it, that’s how we do it; with mating marks.” 

  
  


“What?” Was your oh so eloquent response. Jeongguk looked up at you with wet eyes. “He? Who’s he?” 

  
  


“Inside me, my wolf.” You stared at him for a few minutes blankly before turning your head to Yoongi.

  
  


“Okay, I want you to tell me what’s going on because clearly Guk’s on something.”

  
  


“I wish that were the case but, Y/N, he’s telling the truth,” Yoongi stated lips turned down. “Jeongguk and Seokjin and Jimin aren’t human. Actually, none of us are, but those three, they’re werewolves.” 

  
  


“You’re all on crack,” you whispered more to yourself, eyes wide as you turned to look past Seokjin to the unlit fireplace. “Off your heads completely.” 

  
  


“Afraid not, Y/N,” Namjoon confirmed approaching on your left with a fresh jar of salve and some painkillers still in the box.

  
  


“You too, Joon?” You frowned looking up at the man. You had thought that if anyone would have any sense, it would be Namjoon, the only one willing to talk about the Kang’s from the get-go. You thought you could rely on him for utter honesty in such a mind-boggling time but, apparently not. 

  
  


“Why don’t we try and do something to make you more comfortable before we talk? You must be in pain with that bite.” 

  
  


“No, not really.” You answered simply. “It’s just a little ache like I slept funny. It doesn’t really hurt.” 

  
  


“Really?” His eyebrows lifted in surprise before his attention turned to the eldest of everyone in the room, Seokjin.

“I know this isn’t exactly my area of expertise but shouldn’t she be in more pain right now?” 

  
  


Seokjin frowned thoughtfully and nodded. 

“Thinking about it, she shouldn’t even be up. Her body can’t handle this. She should still be unconscious or at least babbling incoherently.” 

  
  


“Maybe I am unconscious, maybe this is a weird dream and you’re all babbling incoherently because nothing makes sense.” You decided, nudging Jeongguk away to get to your feet. He tried to follow and hold onto you as you wobbled but you scoffed and pulled your arms out of his grasp. 

“I’m fine.” You huffed, pushing around him to walk determinedly into the kitchen but on the way, something caught your gaze. You stopped in your tracks and turned your head to the right where you could’ve sworn you saw something dark and wooden, something like a door but it was just the same dented wall as before. 

  
  


“Is that it?” Namjoon asked, appearing behind you, gaze trained on the wall. 

  
  


“I thought I saw something,” You admitted quietly, chewing the inside of your bottom lip.

  
  


“Something like?” 

  
  


“A door.” 

  
  


“Huh,” He hummed. “Mind if I look around a bit?” 

  
  


“Knock yourself out, man.” You waved a hand carelessly before finishing your trek to the pantry. 

  
  


“What are you doing?” Came Yoongi’s soft voice while you tried to locate the packet of pretzels you were certain you bought last shopping trip. 

  
  


“I’m hungry.” 

  
  


“You shouldn’t be moving around.” 

  
  
  


“I can’t sit in there and listen to this shit, Yoongi.” 

  
  


“But-” 

  
  


“Jeongguk! Where are my pretzels?!” 

  
  


“We finished them yesterday.” You turned your head to find Jeongguk already in the pantry doorway just silently waiting. What for you didn’t know but you didn’t much care either.

“I can ask hyung to go get some if you really want some more.” 

  
  


“No, that’ll take too long.” You sighed stepping back and putting your hands on your hips to eye the shelves. 

“What meat do we have in the fridge?” 

  
  


“There’s steak and gammon.” 

  
  


“Cut the gammon into steaks,” You ordered. He nodded and turned to do as told without argument.

  
  


“Y/N,” Yoongi all but begged so you turned to look at him. You only then realised how pale he looked, how weak. 

  
  


“What’s wrong?” Your hands cupped his face and he sighed out a breath of relief at the contact, his eyes closing and hands raising to grasp your waist. 

“Yoongi, why don’t you look well?” 

  
  


“I haven’t been able to sleep lately, kept having nightmares of losing you. And then I came here this morning to check if you're okay to find this. I can’t lose you, Y/N.”

  
  


“I’m not going anywhere. I have no idea what is going on but I feel fine, Yoongi. I’m not dying, I promise you I will still be here come weekend.” 

  
  


“You can’t say tha-” 

  
  


“I already have. A promise is a promise.” His eyes fluttered open to look at you. You looked so serious, so certain that he couldn’t help but nod in agreement. The smile that lifted your cheeks was worth ignoring everything he previously knew about life and death. If you said you would make it through, then you would. He had never trusted a person more than he trusted you from the get-go. 

  
  


“Good.” He smiled softly before straightening up to press a lingering kiss on your forehead. 

“What are we making for lunch?” 

  
  


“Steak and rice with fried veggies.” 

  
  


“I’ll rinse some rice.” Another kiss met your skin before he grabbed the large bag of rice from the floor and carried it into the kitchen. 

  
  


Once you had some vegetables in your arms, you joined the pair in the kitchen and started work washing the produce in your hands.

  
  


“Anything I can do to help?” Jimin asked. 

  
  


“You can help with these. Wash or cut?” You replied. He walked over to the wooden chopping board on the counter and pulled a knife from the block. “Okay,” You laughed softly and handed him the vegetables that you had already finished washing.

  
  


It was strange having Yoongi and Jeongguk in your home at the same time especially in such close quarters but you couldn’t say you didn’t like it. It felt right having them both moving around the kitchen comfortably like they had grown to be in the cabin as if it was their home too. 

They were even making a conscious effort to be civil with one another, that’s not saying they were laughing and making conversation, no that was you and Jimin but Yoongi and Jeongguk would communicate their needs shortly though politely. It made you happy to see them trying so hard because you knew it was all for you.

  
  


Once everything was ready, the six of you sat down at the table- Jeongguk had to run to the shed to grab the two old stools so that you all had places to sit-. 

They all waited for you to have a full plate before serving themselves. 

  
  


“I think you’re right about the wall,” Namjoon stated around a mouthful of meat. You looked at him with hope-filled eyes. 

  
  


“What?” Jeongguk mumbled looking over at the wall. “I don’t get it.” 

  
  


“Not surprising,” Namjoon chuckled. “It’s more of a magic thing.” As per usual, you didn’t respond to the word, long used to Namjoon and Taehyung using it so it was just part of your life with them.

  
  


“Wait, you accept magic but not werewolves?” Jimin deadpanned looking at you. 

  
  


“Magic is instinct and things you can’t explain but are impossible to deny. Werewolves are stories.” You replied simply, returning the expression to the male. He bristled, looking annoyed by your words. You and Jimin had always gotten along fine, you didn’t upset or anger one another so seeing him affected by your statement gave you pause. 

You lowered your fork and leant back to consider him intently. 

“Okay then, prove it.” 

They all fell silent and looked at you as if you were crazy.

“If you’re a werewolf, prove it. I won’t believe it until I see it.” 

  
  


“Jimin, don’t.” Seokjin sighed. “You’ll just scare her.”

  
  


“She wants to see.” Jimin shrugged getting to his feet and moving around the table to stand in the middle of the kitchen. When he started to remove his clothes you stared unimpressed.

  
  


“Is this some weird ploy to show off your body? Because I’ve seen you shirtless before, Jimin, I know you take good care of yourself.” You sighed.

  
  


“No, I don’t want to ruin my clothes.” He answered simply before abruptly shoving his trousers to his feet before stepping out of them. He hesitated with his hands on the waistband of his boxers but upon finding you still watching him disbelievingly, he dropped those too. 

  
  


“Can’t believe I’m watching this,” Yoongi grumbled.

  
  


“Look away then.” Namjoon chuckled. “I’m curious, I’ve never seen a shift in real life.” 

  
  


“Ready, Y/N?” Jimin taunted. You rolled your eyes and in that split second that your gaze wasn’t trained on him, he vanished. A wolf stood in his place, smooth black fur and eyes glued to you.

  
  


“Well, she’s not screaming,” Seokjin mused when you only stared, jaw dropped and eyes bulging. Honestly, you were pretty certain that you couldn’t scream even if you wanted to, your whole body was frozen.

  
  


“Think I would prefer that,” Jeongguk mumbled, moving around to crouch in front of you and take your hand into his. Your attention slowly slid from the wolf grinning smugly in the middle of your kitchen to Jeongguk.

“Are you okay?” He whispered. You pointed at Jimin’s furry form with your free hand. “Yeah, that’s Jimin-hyung.” You blinked a few times before pulling your hand from his and pushing him away gently. His face dropped. He thought you were trying to remove him, telling him to leave because you were scared.

  
  


“You too,” You managed to speak. 

  
  


“Yeah, me too.” He confirmed sadly.

  
  


“No, I want to see.” 

  
  


His eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh...really?” You nodded firmly. 

Unlike Jimin, Jeongguk didn’t remove his clothes before shifting from his human form to his wolf form. You tried to take in the process having missed it with Jimin but it happened so fast that your brain couldn’t comprehend what was happening. One minute Jungkook knelt before you on the floor, the next, a deep brown wolf, bigger than the black one, sat in front of you with Jeongguk’s clothes in tatters around it on the cool tiles. 

  
  


“Well, fuck me.” You whispered, eyes darting all over Jeongguk’s animal form madly. You wanted to take it all in, take him in. You had always loved animals even if you never had your own to care for. There was no denying that wolves were always one of the most majestic creatures to you and seeing Jeongguk as one only made you more drawn to them. 

“Come here,” You encouraged quietly, motioning for him to get closer and he did, ever so slowly until you could reach out and press your palm to his head. 

“Wow, you’re softer than I thought.” You giggled, dropping down off your chair to kneel in front of him and run both of your hands over his thick fur happily. 

  
  


“How are you not freaking out? I thought for sure you would.” Jimin asked, then back in his human form, boxers and trousers on his legs. He was working on turning his t-shirt back in the right way when he sat back down.

  
  


“What good would that go?” You replied, looking at him amusedly. “You all think I’m going to die and even though I don’t for one second believe that, I’m not going to spend my potential last days having a mental breakdown. I’ll save that for next week when I’ve proved I’m fine.” 

  
  


“That’s reasonable,” He agreed with a chuckle.

  
  


“So now that I’ve accepted this werewolf business, can someone explain why Jeongguk fucking bit me?” 

  
  


“I can. Just sit down and eat, keep your strength up.” Seokjin insisted and you didn’t argue. Jeongguk whined at the loss of pets and moved even closer to plop his head onto your lap so you kept one hand free to give him all the head scritches and strokes he desired.

“As werewolves, males go through this horrible thing a few times a year where our wolf mind takes over and we kind of lose control of ourselves,” He started, pausing to check you were understanding. Your unwavering gaze prompted him to continue. “It’s where we want nothing more than to find our mate and well, mate with them. Normally, it’s not too bad, it’s like being insanely horny for a few days straight but we usually lock ourselves up in the basement and wait it out.” 

  
  


“Like together?” 

  
  


“No,” He laughed. “We don’t have ruts at the same time.” 

  
  


“It’s called a rut? This mating urge?” 

  
  


“Yes. So during pre-rut, the day before it happens, we start to lose ourselves a little but none of us has ever had a problem before and could be in the cabin until the last minute. But Jeongguk’s wolf has wanted you from the moment you met. That usually means that you’re mates, destined to be together and-” 

  
  


“Wait, like soulmates?” 

  
  


“Soulmates are different,” Namjoon answered. “Soulmates are the other half of you, they complete you and your souls are supposed to be together, as the name suggests. Also extremely rare. But werewolves don’t have this. They have mates who are more, of the heart and mind. A different kind of connection but just as deep though it’s much more common than soulmates.”

  
  


“Not so much anymore,” Seokjin added informatively making Namjoon hum in a way that meant he was learning something new. “It used to be that way, we all had mates but werewolves aren’t as common as they used to be. Mates are destined to be together for the fact that their DNA complements one another’s, they’d make strong offspring to continue the bloodline. These days, our DNA is pickier on who we can mate for life with.” 

  
  


“Huh, never knew that,” Namjoon admitted thoughtfully. 

  
  


“Okay, not that this isn’t interesting or anything because it genuinely is but it doesn’t explain why he bit me.” You pointed out.

  
  


“When we go into rut, when our wolf takes over our body, all we want to do is mate with our mate. Just anyone won’t do and because of that, it's when we usually claim our mates by leaving our mark.” Seokjin explained, motioning to your neck. “That was his wolf claiming you as his own, so no other werewolf will dare try and steal you away. A mating mark is a big deal in our kind, especially now that it’s not that common to see.” 

  
  


“So Jeongguk bit me to claim me,” you summarised. Seokjin nodded, his lips downturned in a despondent kind of smile. 

“And the bite is why you all think I’m going to die?” 

  
  


“Only werewolves can survive the mating mark. Some of our kind in the past have been so desperate to keep a human for their own that they bit them thinking it would work as it does with werewolves, tie them together but the human never survived. Humans and werewolves can't be mates.”

  
  


“Then why did he bite me?” You frowned down at Jeongguk who whimpered at your expression. He lifted a paw to place it on your thigh beside his head like an overgrown dog; but, you suppose, that’s really what he was. A giant dog.

“Surely, he would’ve known it won’t work, we can’t be mates?” 

  
  


“He does and he never would’ve done it in his right mind but his wolf took over. He should’ve been locked up but he didn’t for some reason. I guess his wolf liked you so much that it clouded his mind earlier than it usually does before he could get to the basement and made him come to you instead.” 

  
  


“Why didn’t his wolf understand?” 

  
  


“I don’t know, they usually do. Mating is instinctual to wolves, they know who they can successfully mate with. Werewolves that have tried to mate humans never do it during rut because they know their wolves wouldn’t let them be near a human in that way, they know they can’t breed so they see humans as a waste of their time during ruts.” 

  
  


“Then none of this makes sense. If he and his wolf knew biting a human would kill them, why did they still do it?” 

  
  


“That’s something we don’t understand ourselves, Y/N. I’m sorry I can’t give you an answer.” 

  
  


“I understand. It’s fine. It’s not your fault.” You nudged Jeongguk off your lap. 

“Go eat.” He whined and tried to return. “Stop being clingy, go eat.” 

  
  


“That’s part of the mating process,” Jimin informed you, as Seokjin had already returned to his own lunch enthusiastically. “Mating brings us closer, it solidifies a connection between werewolves so we can pretty much feel the other and know where the other is even if they’re not near. Because he bit you, he feels closer to you, even if you are human it still acts a little like it does with our own kind. Plus he’s just being possessive because the mating mark means you’re his now according to our rules. He knows that’s not how it works for you but he can’t help it, it’s instinct for us to be protective of our mates.”

  
  


“What happens to him if I die? Will he be okay?” 

  
  


“No, but that’s not because of the bite, that’s just because he cares so much for you.” Jimin frowned at the thought of how broken his brother would be if something happened to you.

“But in terms of being mated, he’ll get over it because it wasn’t complete.” 

  
  


“There’s more to it?” You gawped. 

  
  


“Well, if you were a werewolf too, you’d have to bite him back to complete the ritual and bond.” 

  
  


“Oh, that makes sense I guess.” You hummed, fingers automatically returning to Jeongguk’s head that had found its place back onto your lap. 

  
  


All of you returned to your barely warm food.

Well, all except Jeongguk who couldn’t bear to remove himself from your gentle touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally a lot longer but I split it so this will continue in the update next Monday


	13. Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 3.8k  
> Warnings; Adult language.

After lunch, you made your way to relax in the living with Jimin, Yoongi and, of course, Jeongguk- who was still in wolf form. Seokjin and Namjoon offered to clean up from lunch as they were the only ones that didn’t help to cook it. None of you argued about the break.

  
  


“Should I really be feeling pain right now?” You asked when you were laid on the rug in front of the unlit fire, head resting on Jeongguk’s furry belly where he laid on his side, curled around your body protectively.

  
  


“Yes, lots of it.” Yoongi confirmed. He was on the floor too, his feet touching your ankle and his back against the sofa. He wanted to touch you, wanted to wrap his arms around you and hold you but he knew better than to test a werewolf’s temper, especially where their partner was involved, mate or not. 

  
  


“Then why aren’t I?” 

  
  


“No idea. It’s frustrating me. Of course, the last thing I want is for that knothead’s mistake to hurt you, to actually do what it should to a human but I don’t understand why it’s not.” 

  
  


“Knothead?” 

  
  


“It’s a wolf thing, ask him.” He pointed to Jimin who scoffed from where he was curled up into a sleepy ball in the armchair.

  
  


“It’s an insult. It means a male werewolf that doesn’t care about anything other than breeding during his rut. Thinks with his knot.” 

  
  


“Okay right, cool. Now explain what the hell a knot is.” 

  
  


Jimin looked a little uncomfortable explaining it to you but he knew you had every right to know and it was better to just tell you and get it over with.

“During rut when we orgasm, the base of our dicks swell. It’s to stop cum leaking out, to maximise chances of pregnancy.” 

  
  


“Sounds uncomfortable.” 

  
  


“Female wolves are made different, they’re made to take a knot easily but humans...it’s partly why we’re surprised you’re up. His knot should’ve well, ripped you.” 

  
  


“He could’ve torn my vagina apart?” You deadpanned. Jimin winced as he nodded. You lifted your hand to hit your knuckles against Jeongguk’s ribs scoldingly. He whined pitifully. 

“How dare you try and destroy my vagina.” Another whine. “No, don’t argue with me. I don’t care if your wolf was in charge, it was still your balloon dick fucking me.” 

  
  


“I’d rather you didn’t talk about your sex life in front of me.” Yoongi pointed out. 

  
  


“Sorry, wasn’t thinking.” You moved your leg to place your foot on his shins and moved it in a way you intended to be comforting. Jeongguk’s body started your vibrate under your head so you hit him again. Only lightly but enough to get your point across.

“Growl and you can leave, I don’t care how much it’ll upset you. You can leave my land and wait for someone to tell you if I die or not.” He curled tighter around your head until his muzzle could tuck into your neck where he lapped at the mark apologetically. You shivered at the touch and closed your eyes. It felt oddly relaxing.

  
  
  


“Yah! Stop it! You’ll hurt her!” Seokjin yelled as he entered the living room to find Jeongguk nosing and licking the bite on your neck. 

  
  


“He’s been nosing it for a few minutes and she hasn’t complained once,” Jimin replied quietly, voice translating his hesitation.

“I think she might even like it.” 

  
  


“What? No way, humans don’t have scent glands to like it.” 

  
  


“What’s scent glands?” You slurred, forcing your eyes open to look at Seokjin curiously.

  
  


“She’s reacting like she does.” Jimin gasped, scrambling to sit up straight and plant his feet on the floor. 

  
  


“I really don’t want to agree, but he’s right,” Yoongi commented, arms folded over his chest as he watched the way you tilted your head to bare your neck to Jeongguk further, allowing him all the space he wanted. He rumbled against you and you just knew it meant he was greatly pleased with your action.

  
  


“Anyone going to answer me?” You murmured, scratching your nails against Jeongguk’s scalp. His rumbling grew loud enough for them all to hear but he didn’t care. He was too happy at that moment.

  
  


“Scent glands are something werewolves have, it’s where the mating mark goes,” Namjoon informed upon noticing that the two werewolves that were actually physically able to communicate were too busy in their own thoughts watching you and their brother.

“But that’s not their only use. They’re what werewolves use to identify one another without other senses. I mean, we all have unique scents but scent glands give off stronger scents. Werewolves heavily rely on their sense of smell, something left over from when their ancestors used to hunt mainly at night.” 

  
  


“Scents, hunting, right,” You mumbled, not able to properly focus on most words sent your way with Jeongguk’s attention on your mark.

  
  


“Guk, you need to stop.” Seokjin realised. His brother didn’t listen. “Jeongguk, this is a serious matter, you can go back to scenting her afterwards.” 

  
  


“Scenting?” You repeated.

  
  


“We do it with those we’re close with, to make them smell like us. We can also do it to calm children and romantic partners, it doesn’t work without that kind of bond most of the time. He wants you to smell like him, another way of showing the word you’re his.” 

  
  


“Oh,” You hummed then pushed his head away to shuffle up into a sitting position. He immediately sat up and returned his head to your neck. 

“Guk, stop.” You spoke. He whined but backed up with his head hanging. 

“Okay, scent glands, scenting, calming. Got it.” You announced after running everything over in your head for a few minutes carefully.

  
  


“I don’t suppose you know what secondary genders are, do you?” The raised eyebrow you shot his way wordlessly answered Seokjin’s question. 

“It’s another werewolf thing though I think most shapeshifters have it.” He looked at Yoongi curiously who simply nodded.

  
  


“Why’d you look at Yoongi?” You questioned, looking at the white-haired male who smiled softly at you.

  
  


“We can talk about that later, Y/N. Let’s focus on werewolves first, okay?” He offered. You weren’t entirely happy with it but knew it was best to stay on track so you nodded and looked back up at Seokjin who finally moved to perch on the left arm of the armchair. You hadn’t even realised that Namjoon was already sitting until you saw him beside Yoongi on the sofa.

  
  


“So there’s three; alpha, beta and omega.” Seokjin started to explain, holding up three fingers. “Most werewolves are born omegas, like Jimin and I. Some can change to the position of beta but that’s only if they mate with an alpha.” Seokjin pointed behind you at Jeongguk. “That brat is an alpha which automatically makes him the leader of our pack despite him being the youngest.” 

  
  


“You actually do what he tells you to?” You snorted. 

  
  


“That’s usually how it works in a pack, everyone follows the alpha’s word because they’re the strongest and the best protector. The alpha’s role is to keep everyone safe, protect their pack. But because we don’t live near other packs, Guk doesn’t have to do anything really and we play equal roles. He’s respectful to us being older so doesn’t boss us about needlessly and we don’t try and do the same. But if he uses his alpha on us, we’d have no choice but to obey every word he says and submit to him.”

  
  


“Is that like a certain voice or something?” 

  
  


“Kind of, yeah I guess so but it’s also an instinct thing- no that’s not what I mean…” 

  
  


“Pheromones. He’d give off his alpha pheromones which go straight to a werewolf’s inner wolf.” Namjoon stated upon realising that Seokjin couldn’t remember the correct way to explain. Seokjin clicked his fingers and smiled gratefully at Namjoon.

  
  


“Exactly, thank you, Namjoon. Alpha pheromones. They’re impossible to fight for an omega or beta but especially omegas.”

  
  


“That sounds shitty.” You commented.

  
  


“If you have a bad alpha, it is but luckily for us, Jeongguk is a good guy,” Jimin replied. “But the thing is, alphas do not blindly obey commands like he does with you. If hyung or I tried to demand him to do something, his alpha instincts wouldn’t let him, we always have to ask to avoid any issue. Yet with you, he listens and asks like an omega pup.” 

  
  


“Maybe it’s because his wolf sees me as his mate?” You suggested.

  
  


“It could be, in part. But even then usually, alpha’s still don’t whine at their beta like that.” 

  
  


You shrugged. You had no idea yourself so didn’t have any input or suggestions to why he was acting like that. Jeongguk had always listened to you even if he acted like a bit of a brat in the process. You just thought he liked making you happy and didn’t want to upset you by potentially doing something you didn’t want.

“Would I be his beta then, if I was a werewolf?” 

  
  


“Yeah, omegas get a promotion to beta if they're mated to an alpha. It would mean you’re second in charge in our pack.” Seokjin confirmed. “You’d be the more caring part of the leadership while he’d be more protective.” 

  
  


“So two alphas can’t mate?” 

  
  


“It doesn’t really happen because they wouldn’t be able to put aside their dominant traits in the first place to start a relationship. I wonder what would happen though if it could.” 

  
  


“Surely two alphas would be bad and one would get demoted to beta,” Jimin suggested. “That much alpha pheromones would be insane.”

  
  


“But if they’re like Gukkie and don’t really use it then wouldn’t it be okay?” You offered. Seokjin and Jimin thought for a moment before slowly nodding.

  
  


“Guess that is possible. Nobody realises that he’s an alpha until we tell them or he shows it.” 

  
  


“That would be one strong pack, two alphas like that,” Namjoon commented. Seokjin hummed in agreement. 

  
  


“Is that everything I should know?” You asked after a short time of no-one saying anything, all too caught up in their thoughts. “About werewolves at least.” 

  
  


“I guess so, I can’t think of anything you could need to know right now,” Seokjin mumbled, turning to look at Jimin who shrugged before looking at Namjoon who seemed surprised at the action but simply shook his head. “Okay, that’s everything. Do you two want to tell her about yourselves now?” 

  
  


“Probably should.” Namjoon chuckled and smiled brightly at you. 

“You could probably figure this out yourself but I’m a witch that specialises in potions.” 

  
  


“Yep, that does make sense.” You confirmed with an amused smile. He just grinned then looked at Yoongi so you turned your head to the white-haired male too. 

  
  


“I’m a shapeshifter, specifically a cat.” He informed bluntly.

  
  


“Ohmygod, I’m so dumb. Cat Yoongi is human Yoongi.” You gawped and he chuckled. “That explains why I felt connected to you the first day we met, I already knew you as a cat.” 

  
  


“Uh, yeah,” He smiled awkwardly, nervously almost. 

  
  


“What?” Yoongi and Namjoon exchanged a look before Yoongi shuffled closer to you and carefully took your hands into his. Jeongguk made what was supposed to be the start of a growl but rapidly cut himself off making you hum in approval that he was behaving.

  
  


“Do you remember the day you were given the spirit jar?” 

  
  


“Yeah, it’s to reveal things.” 

  
  


“Yeah,” He smiled softly. “And do you remember what you gave me?” 

  
  


“You mean you knocked from my hand?” 

  
  


“It means the same thing at the end of the day because you brought it to me.” 

  
  


“Catnip, you got all cuddly and affectionate.” 

  
  


“Wait, she gave you catnip?” Seokjin gawped. Yoongi ignored him so Namjoon nodded in confirmation. “Oh, that...oh.” 

  
  


“What’s important about catnip? Isn’t it just cat weed?” Jimin questioned.

  
  


“It’s given to a person to symbolise true love.” 

  
  


“What?!” You all turned at Jeongguk’s yell. He was knelt on the floor behind you, completely naked. “No!” 

  
  


“The elder gave it to her, Jeongguk, you know they’re never wrong.” Namjoon pointed out. 

  
  


“But, no! She can’t be his soulmate!” 

  
  


“Wait, soulmate?” You repeated, looking at Namjoon who you knew was the most knowledgeable on matters involving plant life and their individual uses.

“Joonie?” 

  
  


“That’s right. True love translates to soulmates, Y/N. You and Yoongi are soulmates.” 

  
  


“Holy shit,” you looked at Yoongi who was smiling fondly at you and your soul sang but your heart ached for the man behind you. 

“The orange!” You remembered, looking at Namjoon with wide eyes. “What about the orange?” 

  
  


“What happened to it?” 

  
  


“I unintentionally gave it to Guk but it applies right because I gave Yoongi the catnip unintentionally too.” 

  
  
  


“What’s the relevance of an orange?” Seokjin questioned. “I’ve never heard that one.” 

  
  


“It also means true love,” Namjoon answered. “But, you can’t have two soulmates, especially when one is of a species that doesn’t experience that.” 

  
  


“No, they have mates.” You reminded him softly. “Maybe...maybe I am Guk’s mate in a way because we can’t be soulmates.” 

  
  


“But you’re human,” Jimin replied. “You...you can’t carry his pups. That’s the main purpose of mates, to create pups with the perfect DNA combination.” 

  
  


“Then nothing makes sense.” You groaned lifting your hands and consequently, Yoongi’s up to your face in frustration.

“I’m willing to go along with all this, believe in soulmates and true love and mates but not if it doesn’t make sense. Not if it’s not possible.”

  
  


“Maybe I should travel to the closest pack with an elder to discuss it with them. See if something like this has happened before.” Seokjin suggested, looking once again at Namjoon.

  
  


“That could be helpful. I can reach out to my contacts and ask them the same.” Namjoon stated. “Many have old family diaries they won’t mind letting me borrow to read through. Maybe grimoires to try and make some kind of potion or spell to reveal whatever is hidden behind that wall too. I have a feeling that would answer a lot of our questions.” 

  
  


“Good idea,” Seokjin confirmed and got to his feet. “I should leave now.” 

  
  


“How will you contact us? There’s no signal up here.” You reminded him.

  
  


“He can call me.” Namjoon offered while also getting to his feet. “I’ll relay anything useful.” 

  
  


“Guess I’ll need your number then, witch.” Seokjin grinned. Namjoon blushed but nodded and fumbled to pull a miniature pen from his pocket and write his phone number across Seokjin’s inner wrist. 

“Wonderful. I’ll contact you as soon as I have information.” He turned and looked directly at you then. 

“Y/N, don’t die before I get back.” 

  
  


“I won’t.” You laughed. 

  
  


“I’ll come help you pack.” Jimin offered so the two left. 

  
  


“I should get started too. Coming hyung?” Namjoon spoke up but one look at Yoongi and he had his answer. “Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you all. Should I bring anything?” 

  
  


“We should be fine, thanks Joonie.” You smiled gratefully so he turned to leave. 

“Oh! Actually! Could you tell Tae not to come by, at least not until the weekend has passed? If there’s a chance I am going to die, I don’t want him to see me like that.” 

  
  


“He’ll never forgive himself for not saying goodbye to you,” Namjoon frowned at you. 

He really didn’t want to agree to your words so that Taehyung could visit you for what could be the last time but he also didn’t want the gardener to see you on your potential death bad. Just seeing the bite was bad enough. Taehyung would never be able to get the image out of his mind. 

  
  


“I’ll write him a letter saying I made you promise not to tell. He won’t blame you.” 

  
  


“He will but, I understand your point. I won’t say a word.” 

  
  


“Thank you.” He smiled, barely lifting his lips before he left the cabin. You heard his car leave and then it was just the three of you.

  
  


“Are you going to put some clothes on or something?” Yoongi groaned when he realised Jeongguk was still entirely naked on the rug.

  
  


“Nah, Y/N likes my body.” Jeongguk smirked. 

  
  


“Don’t be annoying, Guk, go put something on.” You reprimanded, giving him a stern look. He pouted but gave in with a childish grumble and got to his feet to sulk his way up to your room.

“How long have you known we’re soulmates?” You asked once your attention was back on Yoongi. 

  
  


“I’ve always known that you’re someone important. From the day I first saw you and tried to lead you home,” He chuckled embarrassedly. “I still don’t know why I did that, I just knew I needed a way to keep you around somehow. I guess it was the world trying to draw us together because I hated going outside, my fur would get all dirty and it’s not like I had a reason to, Namjoon fed me and talked to me so the indoors was perfect for me. Then that night I just had to go out and I realised why when I saw you.” He laced your fingers together and lifted one of the connected pairs up to press his lips to the back of your hand. Your cheeks warmed at the cute action. “And the catnip; obviously at the time, I was too high to actually understand what the relevance was but once I was back to myself, Namjoon told me and it made sense then, why I was always drawn to you.” 

  
  


“That was months ago.” 

  
  


“I know. It’s been really hard at times not telling you but I knew it wouldn’t go well. You didn’t believe in magic.” 

  
  


“Why did you take so long to actually talk to me? Like, be a human?” 

  
  


“Oh, I was cursed years ago to be stuck as a cat.” He shrugged carelessly. “I liked it though so I didn’t care until you turned up. Obviously you’d never want to date a cat. And then you happened to bring the exact thing to Namjoon he needed to complete the potion. Fate, again.” He laughed a little and you smiled. 

“So here we are, soulmates and I’m glad you haven’t run away.” 

  
  


“Why would I do that? This is my house.” 

  
  


He rolled his eyes and nudged you so you giggled. 

“You know what I mean.” 

  
  


“Yeah, I do but hey if werewolves and mates are real, I think I can be okay with soulmates.” 

  
  


“And what about me?” You hadn’t even realised that Jeongguk had returned despite the fact he had been standing behind the sofa for a few minutes already, listening and watching you with Yoongi.

“Everything in me says you’re my mate even if you aren’t a werewolf. Can you be okay with that too?” 

  
  


“Yes,” Your lack of hesitation made Jeongguk’s stance soften and his lips to split into his adorable bunny-like smile that you so loved to see.

“But only if you both accept that I care for you each equally and stop trying to fight and one-up each other.” 

  
  


“You do realise that you’re literally asking a dog and a cat to get along, right?” Yoongi pointed out.

  
  


“They can get along easily if they put their damn egos aside.” 

  
  


“Yeah, I can do it if he doesn’t try his alpha bullshit on me.” Yoongi agreed.

  
  


“His alpha pheromones would work on you?” 

  
  


“No matter the species, we all recognise an alpha.” 

  
  


“Is it rude to ask what you are?” 

  
  


“I’m an omega but it’s a bit different for my kind. Alphas are the rarest and they are instinctively in charge when they’re around but shapeshifters don’t have the same pack mentality as werewolves. It must be the wolf in them. We’re all fine to live on our own if we want or we can live with others though most shapeshifters tend to lean towards being familiars to witches, help ground their magic and stuff.” 

  
  


“Are you Joon’s familiar then?” He nodded. “Cute.” 

  
  


“How is that-you know what? I’m not even going there.” He sighed while you giggled.

  
  


“Do betas exist for shapeshifters then?” 

  
  


“Yeah, pretty equal in number to omegas. It’s just that omegas are more attuned to nature and make better familiars. We tend to spend more time as animals than humans and betas are the opposite.”

  
  


“Can you do magic?” Jeongguk enquired as he carefully sat down on the rug too. He didn’t want the shapeshifter to feel threatened by his presence and be put on edge. Yoongi didn’t react to Jeongguk other than answering his question which was a very good sign. 

  
  


“I can make things with magic, like charms and potions but I can’t do spells.” 

  
  


“That’s cool. I’ve always wished I could do magic.” 

  
  


“You could probably make some real basic potions, they don’t require much and as a werewolf, you already have some in you.” 

  
  


“Really?!” Yoongi nodded and Jeongguk grinned. “Cool.” 

  
  


“Can you teach him one now? I have a lot of herbs and plants hanging around that I know Joon uses.” Yoongi didn’t look too sure and something told you it wasn’t because it would involve Jeongguk. You had a feeling it was because of you, he didn’t want to give anything or anyone but  _ you _ his attention. 

“There’s nothing else for us to do here, might as well pass the time teaching.” 

  
  


“You should really rest.” Was his cautious reply.

  
  


“I can sit and watch. It’s not like I’d be running around or anything.” 

  
  


“Are you sure you feel okay? Don’t want to sleep or anything?” 

  
  


“I’m fine, Yoongi.” You assured him with a comforting smile. “I promise I’ll say something if that changes.” 

  
  


“Okay.” He relented and looked to Jeongguk. 

“Do you know how to build a fire?” 

  
  


“There’s a fireplace there though,” The younger mumbled, pointing past you. 

  
  


“I’d rather not give you your first ever potion lesson indoors.” 

  
  


“Oh, right, yeah I can build a fire.” Jeongguk climbed to his feet. “How big?” 

  
  


“Just big enough for a pan.” Jeongguk nodded and gave you a bright smile before leaving the cabin through the back door. 

  
  


“Thank you for agreeing, Yoongi.” You spoke as the two of you got to your feet and wandered into the kitchen where Yoongi walked further to the pantry for ingredients.

“I think keeping him busy is the best thing right now.” 

  
  


“Yeah, me too.” He agreed from within the room. 

  
  


When he returned to the kitchen with a basket of ingredients, he found you standing with the toughest pan you owned, thick-bottomed and heavy-duty. He smiled at your intuition and motioned for you to follow him outside.

  
  


As you sat down to watch the pair make a potion of unknown use, something warm travelled through your chest, something that told you that things would genuinely be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may've noticed, updates won't be as regular now as I don't have many chapters in the line up to be uploaded. I've only finished fourteen and I like to be a few chapters ahead of my updates but clearly I am currently not.  
> To help with this, you could always tell me things you want to see in the story/things I've yet to explain/any ideas you have to help my own inspiration because I'll be honest, I have no planned this story well at all lol


	14. Bad Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.1k  
> Warnings; Adult language

Going to bed Friday night was a chore, purely because both males were beyond anxious, they had been bickering since sunset over the smallest of things, most of which weren’t even an inconvenience. You understood why they were acting as they did but it didn’t mean it didn’t frustrate you.

You could all easily recall Seokjin’s words;  _ “Chances are you won’t make it to the weekend”  _ and it was clearly affecting the two males immensely as they were completely on edge by the time you left them in the living room to have a warm shower and get ready for bed.

  
  


“Please don’t do this to us, Y/N,” Jeongguk begged from the bottom of the stairs where he and Yoongi were both standing, bodies itching to ignore your demand for them to remain downstairs. 

“Please let us up.” 

  
  


“You’re annoying me.” You replied from where you sat against the headboard of your bed, notepad on your lap to write that letter to Taehyung, just in case Seokjin was right. You felt fine but you had no experience with the magical world so if the general consensus was that you would die, well, you guessed you should be prepared.

  
  


“You don’t understand what it’s like for us, we’ve seen what failed matings can do, that’s all we can think about. And he’s connected to you so his wolf is struggling to stay away knowing what could happen.” Yoongi added almost as desperate sounding as Jeongguk. The werewolf whined pitifully to back up the shapeshifter’s words. Seems as if they could work together more than well when it came to trying to pull your heartstrings.

  
  


“I don’t care. If this is my last night, I’m not spending it between the two of you bitching at each other. You said you’d get along.” 

  
  


“We know, we know,” Yoongi sighed heavily. “We’re just tense about all this, worried about you and everything sets us off right now, especially regarding each other because of the bad blood.” 

  
  


You chewed your lip in thought, twirling your pen between your fingers as you considered your options.

“Okay, fine, give me ten minutes then you can both come up but only if you tell me why you guys hate each other properly.” 

  
  


“Okay.” Jeongguk instantly agreed. “And for the record,  _ we _ don’t hate  _ them _ , they hate us so we respond.” 

  
  


“Ten minutes.” You reminded him. 

  
  


“I’ll make drinks.” Yoongi offered before his voice grew quieter, clearly no longer speaking up for your sake and just talking to Jeongguk instead. You heard them patter away from the stairs so you turned your attention back to your writing.

  
  


Exactly ten minutes later they were both entering your peripheral from where you still sat against the headboard but then admiring the stars that peeked over the treetops through the window opposite you. 

  
  


“Did you say everything you needed to?” Yoongi questioned softly once he had walked around the bed to place two mugs of tea on the bedside table and noticed the envelope with Taehyung’s name on the front. 

  
  


“Yeah,” You confirmed, giving him a soft smile. “But he’ll probably need you to remind him even with my words in front of him.”

  
  


“I will.” He agreed firmly making you smile a little brighter knowing that your best friend would be taken care of if the worst did happen.

“Jeongguk is going to change your dressing, okay?” You nodded and felt the mattress sink on your left where Jeongguk climbed onto the bed. You tilted your head to the side to give him better access and allow him to easily remove the protective padding taped to your neck. 

  
  


“So why the hatred?” You reminded them, gaze still on Yoongi as Jeongguk was behind you. Yoongi settled against the headboard directly at your side, his left shoulder pressed to your right and hands finding one another easily. 

  
  


“It’s a simple reason really; the Kang murder.” Jeongguk scoffed at Yoongi’s words, a sound full of detest and disbelief.

  
  


“The town blamed Guk’s family, right?” You recalled.

  
  


“The way they were killed was exactly how a werewolf slaughters, Y/N. The Jeon’s were the only werewolf pack granted access to the Kang land.” 

  
  


“My parents didn’t kill them. They were friends, really good friends.” Jeongguk defended through his teeth. “They would never hurt them and it fucking destroyed them when we came into town the next day to find out and were chased out with fucking pitchforks like wild animals. We may live in the mountains but we’re still civilised people.” 

  
  


“Then explain it, Jeongguk, how the fuck did the most powerful magic family in this part of the country die of wounds only werewolves make when the only werewolves able to get near their cabin was your family, huh?” 

  
  


“I don’t fucking know but it wasn’t us!” Jeongguk snapped. In an instant, Yoongi was curling in on himself and whimpering fearfully. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Jeongguk breathed out, all anger gone from his tone at the sight of the shapeshifter backing to the edge of the bed; trying to get as far away from the alpha as possible but refusing to let go of your hand that he had gripped tight. 

  
  


“Was that your alpha?” You asked, turning your head just enough to look at Jeongguk. He nodded guiltily. 

  
  


“I really didn’t mean to do it. It just happens when I get worked up, I can’t control it. I’ve tried my whole life but I can’t.” 

  
  


“I know, I understand.” You assured him, reaching out to grasp his hand in your free one. “Yoongi knows that too, I’m sure of it.” Jeongguk made a sad little sound, still feeling bad but he returned his hands to work tending to your neck so you looked back at Yoongi who had his eyes squeezed shut and was breathing slow and deep, calming himself. 

You just watched, allowing him the time and space he needed.

When his eyes fluttered open and found you, you smiled at him.

“You okay?” 

  
  


“Yeah, s’just hard to come back after an alpha’s anger like that and I haven't had to deal with it in years so it got to me more than I’d like to admit.” Yoongi murmured, gingerly shuffling closer to you. Once he was close enough you lifted your connected hands to press a kiss to each of his fingers and the back of his hand. His cheeks were stained a beautiful, soft pink when you looked back at him and he was smiling shyly though oh so fondly at you. 

“Thank you.” You smiled then turned your head to face Jeongguk when he settled at your side as he was finished with his task, all items placed in a neat little pile on the dresser under the window- which he had pulled the curtain across ready for when the sun would appear in the morning.

  
  


“Did your parents look into who could’ve done it?” You enquired.

  
  


“Yeah but...he’s right, their wounds were exactly how a werewolf would kill and we were the only ones that could access their land. Before you turned up, only my family had been on this land since the bodies were taken.” 

  
  


“That’s a long time.” 

  
  


“This land is magic and no-one knows if that’s due to the Kang’s settling here generations ago or if the land is why the Kang’s settled here. In the end, the family and the land merged into one anyway, the land followed the Kang's wishes meaning it kept out unwanted visitors.” Yoongi explained. “Which is why you don’t get any bugs eating your crops, the immediate land around the cabin has been dealing with the Kang’s magic for so long that insects naturally avoid it even though the Kang’s themselves have been dead a long time.” 

  
  


“I’ve always wondered about that.” You hummed thoughtfully. “It’s very helpful to me.” 

  
  


“Yeah, Lee loved it,” Jeongguk spoke. 

  
  


“Who?” 

  
  


“The husband, Kang Lee,” Jeongguk answered with a fond smile. “He was my dad’s best friend and he loved the garden; grew the best strawberries.” 

  
  


“Tae said that too.” You smiled at the thought. “Hope mine lives up to the land’s hype.” 

  
  


“We can pick some tomorrow and try.” 

  
  


“Tae took them all last week. I don’t think there’s any more to pick yet.” Jeongguk pouted a little, making you giggle. “As soon as there is, I’ll let you know.” 

  
  


“Good.” He nuzzled your neck, just under your ear and above the tape holding the padding to your neck.

  
  


“If your family were the only ones allowed on the land, how could they have been killed like that?” 

  
  


“Well...there’s something people don’t know about them,” Jeongguk admitted resting his head on your shoulder. You hummed, encouraging him to talk while Yoongi stayed silent and curious. 

“The Kang’s are a powerful bloodline of witches, we all know that, so Sunny, the wife, was a witch born into the Kang family. Lee wasn’t a witch.” 

  
  


“What? I knew he was married into the family but not a witch?” Yoongi gasped. 

  
  


“His family was killed when he was little and the Kang’s took him in, raised him and he and Sunny fell in love.” 

  
  


“What was he?” You questioned.

  
  


“He was a werewolf.” 

  
  


“Fuck off,” Yoongi grunted, staring disbelievingly at Jeongguk who simply tilted his head to meet the shapeshifter’s gaze and nod honestly. “Fuck me, no-one ever suspected that. If we knew...only Sunny had the wounds.” 

  
  


“Yeah, we know but we swore long ago never to discuss his species to anyone that wasn’t family to the Kang’s. The land bound our word but now you own the land, I guess I can finally tell someone that.” Jeongguk let out a heavy breath and his body slumped a little against you. He had been carrying such a big secret all on his own for years, unable to even tell the boys he called family those words that haunted him. It was such a relief to  _ finally _ be able to tell another person.

  
  


“Do you think he killed her?” Your voice came out so quiet, so careful. 

  
  


“I don’t want to believe so but...he had been acting off for a few days and Sunny wasn’t herself either, she always looked so sad when she looked at him but like...you know the sad smile people have when they see someone that can’t help themselves like when people with dementia forget something?” You both nodded knowing the exact smile Jeongguk referred to. “Yeah, that’s how she looked at him. I think she knew what was going to happen but she didn’t tell anyone.” 

  
  


“That...she could’ve stopped him. Sunny-ssi was powerful, she could’ve stopped a werewolf attack.” Yoongi pointed out barely above a whisper. He was in shock and trying to make sense of it all but even Jeongguk didn’t understand it and he knew more than anyone else alive.

  
  


“That’s the part we don’t understand,” Jeongguk mumbled curling up against your side and sliding an arm around your waist. Yoongi must’ve felt the werewolf’s hand between your side and his own but he didn’t move away or react in any way. Either he was thinking too deeply or he understood that Jeongguk needed the comfort of your body in his arms right then; Jeongguk had known the Kang’s closely as a child, people that were as close as family to him were killed and potentially by one of their own hands. Jeongguk needed you and you knew Yoongi would never be cruel enough to prevent your help.

  
  


“We’ll figure it out.” You insisted. “Now that I know about all this and magic, I can really look into how the deed ended up in China with the couple that adopted me and hopefully that’ll open more doors for us to learn what happened to Sunny and Lee.” 

  
  


“I would really appreciate that, Y/N, so much,” Jeongguk replied, voice full of emotion. You pressed a lingering kiss to his head before resting your own against it. 

  
  


“Let’s get some sleep.” You suggested.

  
  


“I’m scared.” His grip on you tightened. “I don’t want to wake up and...and find you dead. I can’t face losing you too, Y/N.” The fingers gripping harder to your own told you that Yoongi felt the same way.

  
  


“I’m not going to die. I trust you, I trust your wolf, Guk. You claimed me as your mate and I plan to stick around to fulfil my duty to you, okay? You never would’ve bitten me if you didn’t instinctively know I could handle it.”

  
  


“Promise me you’ll be okay.” 

  
  


“I promise.” 

  
  


It took some coaxing and sweet words but eventually, both males shifted into their animal counterparts and curled up with you on the bed to settle down and sleep.

They both stated that they had better senses as animals; they would know if something happened to you during the night and insisted they slept that way. You didn’t argue, whatever made them sleep easier and calmed their minds.


	15. Sing that campfire song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.3k  
> Warnings; Suggestive suicidal themes at the very start; it doesn’t last long, trust me. Animal blood/hunting mentions.
> 
> To phoriaeu who gave me the idea for a cute camping scene, thank you, this one if for you, my love. I know it's not quite what you had in mind but I had to slip in a chill camp out after all the stress of the past few chapters so I hope you like it :3

Late Monday evening, Seokjin felt fear settle in his chest.

  
  


He had just returned from his trip to a neighbouring pack but as soon as he pulled his rarely used car into your driveway, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel almost too tight for the equipment to handle; he heard it creak but he couldn’t focus on that. The sight in front of him was much more pressing than a potentially cracked steering wheel. 

  
  


There wasn’t a single light coming from your cabin despite the sky already being dark. 

If it wasn’t for the headlights of his vehicle, the whole clearing would’ve been plunged into darkness and it was terrifying.

It was too still, too quiet.

  
  


You had been so certain that you would survive that he couldn’t prevent himself from believing you despite what he knew about humans and mating marks. He hadn’t doubted that he would return and see you sitting next to his youngest brother on your sofa, teasing the younger and scolding him as he glared at the white-haired shapeshifter that Seokjin just knew would be as glued to you as Jeongguk.

  
  


Turning off the engine didn’t even cross his mind as he stumbled out of the car and into the light blasting against the cabin door. 

  
  


It was unlocked, it was never unlocked if no-one was home. He knew you were too worried about your precious few belongings to leave your home unlocked when it was unoccupied.

Had you left in a hurry?

Had Jeongguk and Yoongi not had the presence of mind to lock up after themselves as they rushed your lifeless body out in hopes of finding someone to revive you?

  
  


As Seokjin’s foot crossed the threshold, the worst possible scenario crossed his mind and he froze, a lump lifting to settle in his throat.

  
  


What if...what if when he made it to your bedroom it wasn’t only your lifeless body he had to face? 

What if Yoongi couldn’t bear to face the world without his soulmate? 

What if Jeongguk...what if Jeongguk…

He couldn’t even finish the thought.

  
  


With hands balled tight against his stomach to prevent their tremors, he forced himself to cross the dull living room and climb the stairs. 

  
  


Upon reaching the top, he found himself unable to move forward. He had never been so terrified in his life. Part of him didn’t want to walk the short hall to reach where he knew your bed was, where, if his worst thoughts were accurate, he’d find you, find his brother.

  
  


He’ll never know just how long he stood there, petrified of what he’d find before he managed to slide his right foot forward only to stop in his tracks at the voice coming from downstairs.

  
  


“Hyung?!” 

  
  


“Guk?” He whispered, turning his head to look at the stairs. He blinked himself back to reality and rushed forward to find an empty bed, made up just the way you liked it but clearly made by Jeongguk’s hands as his touch was clear on it; he had taken to making his own bed that very same way through habit.

  
  


“Jin-hyung?!” Jeongguk called. 

Seokjin turned and sprinted down the stairs finding Jeongguk leaving the bathroom with a half-full jar of salve.

“Why did you leave your engine running? You’ll kill the battery. I turned it off for you.” He spoke easily, tossing Seokjin’s car keys across the space and usually, Seokjin always caught them but this day he didn’t even react until they collided with his chest and then it was only to stare down at where they fell on the wooden floor.

“Uh, you okay?” Jeongguk approached to pick up the keys and hold them out to his brother.

  
  


“I-I thought…” Seokjin swallowed thickly and looked up at Jeongguk before throwing his arms around him. Jeongguk was beyond confused but could just tell that the elder needed to be held tight so he did just that. 

“It was too dark, too quiet. I thought the worst.” 

  
  


“Oh, oh no, hyung, Y/N is okay. She kept her promise.” 

  
  


“I thought you…” 

  
  


“Me?” Seokjin nodded against Jeongguk’s shoulder and inhaled his scent. 

“Me?” Jeongguk repeated confusedly before he suddenly understood and squeezed the other even tighter.

“No, no I wouldn’t do that to you, to Jiminie. I’d be heartbroken, I would never be the same if I lost her but I could never force that feeling onto you two. You’re my family, hyung. I would never make you feel that pain.” 

  
  


“Promise me.” 

  
  


“I promise.”

  
  


They remained in the embrace for another few minutes until Seokjin sucked in a deep breath and stepped back to subtly wipe the wetness that had gathered in his eyes. 

Jeongguk pretended not to notice and held the keys back out. 

  
  


“Where is everyone then?” The elder questioned, stuffing his keys into his pocket. 

  
  


“Oh, we’re celebrating that Y/N didn’t die! She’s always wanted to go camping so we’ve set up some tents and a fire nearby.” 

  
  


“Oh, I see.” Seokjin hummed and dropped his attention to the jar. “And that? Has the mark opened?”

  
  


“Oh it’s not for her. Namjoon decided to grab the soup pot handle with his bare hand.” Jeongguk sniggered. 

  
  


“Namjoon is there?” 

  
  


“Yep and Jiminie and Taehyung. Did you know they’re the same age? They get along really well too actually. I think hyung has a crush on him but he denies it.” Jeongguk giggled and Seokjin smiled.

“You need to come and try Yoongi’s soup, it’s actually really good and has these weird herbs in it to help us all stay awake longer.” 

  
  


“It can’t be better than anything I make.” Seokjin scoffed following Jeongguk out of the cabin.

  
  


“Of course not, hyung.” 

  
  


“You didn’t lock the door.” He pointed out as they walked away from the cabin. “It wasn’t locked when I arrived either.” 

  
  


“Y/N decided that as the only people that can access her land are people she trusts, she doesn’t want to lock the door anymore so you can all come over when you want.” 

  
  


“You? So us and not you?” Jeongguk blushed. “Guk,” He teased.

  
  


“Well, because of the mark...she said I can move in if I want, so my wolf doesn’t play up.” 

  
  


“And you accepted, right? You’re stupid if you didn’t.”

  
  


“I wasn’t going to because of Yoongi but he said he understood and he’s still going to be here a lot so we should probably invest in a bigger bed but he’ll still be at his place as he’s Namjoon’s familiar.” 

  
  


“That’s mature of him.” Jeongguk hummed in agreement. 

“You know, none of them are as bad as I thought they’d be. Even from what I saw of Taehyung that day, he seemed like a decent enough guy.” 

  
  


“Yeah, they are, though I don’t know about the last member of their group, Hoseok. He’s always been the least accepting of them and he won’t act civil with Y/N.” 

  
  


“Three out of four isn’t bad I suppose. Plus, it doesn’t seem like we’ll ever have to deal with him.” 

  
  


“Yeah, Y/N has no intention of letting him onto her land.” Jeongguk giggled which made Seokjin laugh too. 

  
  


Soon enough they were bathed in the warm light of the fire burning bright in the centre of the small clearing close to the stream. 

  
  


“Jinnie!” You exclaimed happily upon spotting him. You got up from your position cradled between Yoongi’s spread legs on the blanket to rush over and greet the eldest with a hug.

“I’m so glad you made it back in time to join us!” 

  
  


“Me too.” He squeezed you a little tighter before holding you at arm’s length to inspect your features carefully.

“You look like you’re almost back to normal.” He commented, pleasantly surprised.

  
  


“Yep, I’m almost healed too. Guk has been changing the dressing morning and night for me and says that the wounds are almost gone.” 

  
  


“Can I have a look myself?” 

  
  


“In the morning, I only just changed it before we came here,” Jeongguk complained. “And I don’t have more padding, only Namjoon’s bandages.”

  
  


“Okay, in the morning you can look.” You agreed, satisfying both of them.

“Are you hungry? Actually I don’t care, you need some energy soup anyway.” You decided, grabbing Seokjin’s hand to lead him over to the fire that had the pot hovering in the thin air above the flames to keep the soup warm without actually cooking it further.

“Joonie?” You called pointing to the pot. He looked over from where he was crouched with his hand in the cool stream water to soothe the burn and waved in greeting at the sight of Seokjin, a friendly smile stretching his cheeks into dimples before he made a gesture that lowered the pot to a height that allowed you to ladle some of the contents into a bowl. 

“Thank you!” Namjoon made another gesture that lifted the pot back into the air before he turned to give Jeongguk his attention as the youngest werewolf sat beside him with a hand towel, bandages and the salve. 

  
  


“What’s in it?” Seokjin asked as he sat with yourself and Yoongi on the blanket, bowl cupped in his left hand and spoon in his right. 

  
  


“Vegetables currently but Jimin has gone off to hunt rabbit to add,” Yoongi answered as if it was an everyday occurrence for him even though it was far from the truth.

  
  


“He loves hunting,” Seokjin commented before carefully spooning his first load into his mouth. He made a surprised sound. 

“Wow, you’re a good cook, Yoongi-ssi.” 

  
  


“Thanks. I’ve been told you are too.” 

  
  


“You’re both great cooks.” You informed, cuddling back against Yoongi’s chest. He bent his neck forward to press his lips to the top of your head automatically before looking back up at Seokjin to begin discussing a recipe he was struggling to fill a gap in.

  
  


Deep into their conversation- they were on at least their sixth recipe discussion- Jimin arrived in his black-furred beauty, his muzzle wet with blood and the limp bodies of two rabbits hanging from his mouth.

Moments later, Taehyung followed him out of the treeline with a bunch of wildflowers in his hand. 

  
  


“Look, Y/N! I finally found them!” He exclaimed, kneeling in front of you. 

  
  


“What are they for?” Seokjin asked curiously.

  
  


“They make the most potent fertility tea!” Taehyung beamed happily.

  
  


“Fertility tea?” Seokjin raised an eyebrow at you.

  
  


“Not for me!” You blushed. “I don’t want kids.” 

  
  


“Ever?” Yoongi mumbled. 

  
  


“Right now. I think there’s too much to figure out right now to bring children into this, Yoongi.” He hummed, a non-vocal agreement to your words.

  
  


“Do you think you will have children together one day?” Taehyung asked, eyes almost glittering with joy at the thought. “Your babies would be so little and precious. I’d never put them down.” 

  
  


“We haven’t discussed it.” You answered truthfully though you had to be honest with yourself, the idea of having children with Yoongi wasn’t a bad one at all.

“Personally, I never wanted children when I was growing up because I was worried the father and I would break up like I had seen so many of my friends’ parents do but now that I have my soulmate, I guess that isn’t really much of a valid concern.” 

  
  


“I’ve never put thought into it myself. I mean I was a cat for so long it wasn’t a possibility but now, with you, I think I’d love a family one day in the future.” 

  
  


“Where would that put me?” Jeongguk frowned from where he had silently approached on your right. 

He had grown into the habit of moving silently just like he was used to doing around his brothers; he didn’t have to hide his werewolf abilities from you anymore which included his incredible stealth.

  
  


“You all said I can’t carry your pups, Guk.” You reminded him.

  
  


“I know,” He frowned. “I wish you could. I’ve always wanted pups of my own.” 

  
  


“It’d be a difficult situation.” Yoongi realised. “I’d never expect you to leave, Jeongguk, you’re mates. But what would that mean you are to my kids? Stepdad?” 

  
  


“I guess?” Jeongguk made a face that perfectly reflected his hesitation and confusion. 

  
  


“It doesn’t matter at the minute anyway.” You pointed out. “It’s not going to happen for a long time if it ever does. Just because we may want children in the future, it doesn’t mean we can physically have them.”

  
  


“If that happens, you should adopt,” Taehyung suggested. 

“Though I’m pretty sure Joon and I can make a fertility potion so effective you’ll have twins on the first go.” He looked so certain and determined you couldn’t help but laugh fondly. 

  
  


“Okay, Tae, you’ll be the first I contact when it comes time to make a baby.” The smile that lifted Taehyung’s mouth made you giggle again. He looked so happy.

  
  


“The rabbits are ready!” You all looked over to find that Jimin had fully prepared the rabbits on the board Yoongi had brought along from your cabin. 

  
  


“Wow, you work fast,” Yoongi commented, nudging you forward so that he could get up and join Jimin to add the meat to the pot. 

Jeongguk immediately settled in Yoongi’s previous spot behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist to nuzzle the right side of your neck, always cautious of reopening the bite on the other side.

  
  


“Do you want to play a game? I bought trivia cards.” Namjoon asked from the open tent. 

At the round of confirmation, he found the pack of cards from his bag before settling on the blanket and handing the packet over to Taehyung to shuffle.

  
  


Once Jimin and Yoongi were finished putting the meat in the soup to cook and cleaning away the remains respectfully, they joined you all on the blanket where the seven of you played and drank and ate the night away as if there was never a single drop of bad blood between any of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A heads up about the next chapter; it's nowhere near finished! :))) we love being uninspired to write this story while starting like 3 other entirely unrelated new ones in the past week alone. Love that for me. So I've no idea when I'll be able to whack it out for you guys, my upload schedule is fucked these days so I apologise for that  
> BUT next chapter we will be learning what the elders told Seokjin so that's something to look forward to, more knowledge about the situation ayy  
> Plus, if I write it how I want; something big is coming at the end of the chapter which if you follow on Tumblr and have read the masterlist, you'll already know what the next chapter is going to be titled ;)
> 
> Remember I'm always begging for ideas and your thoughts on this story so I can have motivation/inspiration to actually write it because I am legit dead for ideas and will power despite loving this story originally


	16. The Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.3k  
> Warnings; Adult language

Tuesday morning, Seokjin sat by your side as Jeongguk carefully removed the padding on your neck, just like agreed upon so that the eldest could check your healing progression himself.

  
  


“Oh, wow,” He gasped softly in surprise. “You really are almost healed already, that’s incredible.” 

  
  


“She’s healing almost as fast as a werewolf,” Jeongguk commented. “We don’t understand it.”

  
  


“We don’t understand anything that’s been going on lately, let’s be honest.” You scoffed. 

  
  


“I may have an explanation for that.” Seokjin piped up so you both looked at him curiously. 

“Let’s gather everyone and I can tell you all what the elders said.” 

  
  


Soon enough, you were all crowded on the blanket, tasks abandoned in favour of giving Seokjin all of the attention.

  
  


“I explained the situation to the elders of a nearby pack and although they were as bewildered as us all about you having two true loves, both soulmate and mate, they could at least shed some light over why Jeongguk’s wolf claimed you during rut like that.” 

  
  


“Don’t pause for dramatics, this is not the time, hyung.” Jimin pointed out. 

  
  


“Shut up,” Seokjin huffed but looked back at you to relay the information.

“There have been instances throughout our history where during rut or heat, a human was claimed.” 

  
  


“Even though our wolves know it won’t work?” Jeongguk questioned.

  
  


“Ah but it turns out, they knew it would.” Seokjin smiled, looking relieved at the knowledge that he was about to share with you all. 

“Even though it hasn’t happened many times, it’s a rare occurrence actually for a human to be claimed while the wolf is in charge but, every time it’s happened like that the human survived.” 

  
  


“How?” Taehyung gasped, sucked into Seokjin’s words as if it was his favourite bedtime story.

  
  


“You know how werewolves aren’t as common now?” They all nodded. “It’s because as the number of humans has risen; our DNA shrunk back to protect ourselves so we wouldn’t be hunted by the humans that had grown to way outnumber us. Because of that, people that were born to werewolf parents stopped presenting and were nothing more than humans.” 

  
  


“Presenting?” You repeated, asking for more information on the term.

  
  


“We’re born human for the most part, just with faster healing and improved senses,” Jimin explained. “And then when we’re five we present and we find out our secondary gender. Once we know that, we can change into a wolf and connect with it.” 

  
  


“So these babies born to werewolf parents never turn into wolves themselves?” You summarised.

  
  


“Exactly,” Seokjin confirmed. “But the werewolf gene is still in their DNA, it’s just dormant. Ready to pass on to their own offspring and so on until the family settles somewhere safe enough for their wolves to come out of hiding.”

  
  


“That’s a really smart preservation instinct,” Namjoon commented impressed. “Witches don’t have that. We either are or aren’t. There’s nothing hidden in our genes.”

  
  


“Did the humans that were claimed and survived have the dormant gene?” You asked and Seokjin nodded. “Does that mean I do too?” 

  
  


“It makes sense.” He confirmed. “But we won’t know for sure until you present.” 

  
  


“Hang on, I what? I’m human, Jin, or have you forgotten that fact?” 

  
  


“So were all the others until they were bitten and their genes awakened. They all presented once the gene settled in their bodies and transformed for the first time.” 

  
  


“Wait wait wait, this is all great and everything, she won’t die but what about the fact she’s my soulmate?” Yoongi commented, calming down the excitement both Jeongguk and Jimin were showing as they got up and started to dance around chanting that they had a new pack member.

  
  


“As far as the elders know, that’s never happened before so they couldn’t say what it means.” Seokjin frowned sympathetically. “But they suspect your link will break when she presents. Werewolves can only have mates, not soulmates.” 

  
  


“No,” You argued, holding Yoongi’s hand tighter in your own. “I refuse to turn if that means losing Yoongi.” 

  
  


“Y/N, you can’t stop yourself becoming a werewolf, it’s in your blood,” Namjoon announced softly, not wanting to upset either of his friends further. 

  
  


“And he’s in my soul. He’s as much a part of me as Guk.” 

  
  


“I know and if I could do anything to keep you together, I would, in a heartbeat but all my research on multiple true loves no matter the species has come up empty.” 

  
  


“Then we’ll be the first. I’m not giving up either of them.” 

Yoongi squeezed your hand a little tighter, supportive and appreciative but it felt weak as if he didn’t believe it would work in your favour either. 

It made your own grip loosen until you were no longer holding him and instead picked up a dry leaf by your side to sadly pluck at and shred to pieces.

  
  


*

  
  


“What exactly will happen to me, like how does a werewolf present exactly?” You questioned as you trailed at the back of the group on the walk through the trees back to your cabin. 

  
  


“It’s nothing physical, you don’t wake up as a wolf or anything,” Seokjin informed, having been the one to stay close to your side as Jeongguk and Jimin chased each other in wolf form with supplies from the trip strapped to their backs. 

  
  


Yoongi hadn’t been himself since learning that your bond may very well break and honestly, neither had you. You didn’t want to lose Yoongi but it seemed as if you already were. He hadn’t looked your way since leaving the campsite, instead, he chose to walk alongside his witch silently, eyes drawn down to the ground.

  
  


“It’s kind of hard to explain really. You feel different of course, there’s the increased senses like you’ll be able to see further and hear better and all that, though of course, our sense of smell is our greatest friend as wolves.” 

  
  


“Won’t that be overwhelming though, to suddenly have better senses?” 

  
  


“That’s more gradual. You will notice a difference straight away but it’s not you’ll be able to scent track anyone immediately.” He chuckled. “It’ll take a few days to settle in.” 

  
  


“Okay. How did you know that you’re an omega?” 

  
  


“You mean once I presented?” You nodded. 

“It was instinctual, I guess. I’ve never really thought about it. I woke up and just knew and so did my parents. When you first present, other wolves will know what you are too until it calms down and you grow used to having presented yourself and then you can hide it.” 

  
  


“Like Guk does?” 

  
  


“Most wolves do around new people, it’s easier to not be put in a box like that but at home with our packs, we relax because we all already know where we stand.” 

  
  


“If I presented, I’d be in your pack?” 

  
  


“Yep, our beta, unless you’re an alpha too. I have no idea what will happen then.” 

  
  


“What’s the chances of me being an alpha?” 

  
  


“I want to say pretty low, alphas are the minority and with good reason. We can’t have a bunch of alphas in one place otherwise it would be constant fighting. But the way Jeongguk listens to you makes me wonder if maybe you’re an alpha yourself and his wolf knows and is getting ready to step down and become a beta to give you your place as head of the pack.” 

  
  


“That sounds like way too much responsibility to me. I can’t handle that.” You swallowed at the thought of being in charge of protecting the three grown men.

  
  


“You’re a good leader, Y/N. Think of how you took charge when I was ill. Nobody argued with you and you kept your cool. I’d be proud to have you as our alpha, or beta, whatever fate has picked for you I know you’ll fill your role well so don’t worry.” 

  
  


“I can’t help it. Everything is changing so fast the past week. I don’t understand what’s going on from one moment to the next and when I thought I had settled my mind about having two soulmates who can both turn into animals magically, you tell me I’m going to lose one and turn myself like...it’s a fucking lot.” 

  
  


“I know.” He stopped to pull your body to his in a warm hug. 

“I’m sorry you have to go through all this. I bet you wish you never met any of us, huh?” He mused through a chuckle.

  
  


“I could never wish that. You guys are my family. All of you.”

  
  


A whine as a large muzzle nudging your thigh made you pull from Seokjin to look at where Jeongguk’s wolf form stood behind you, round eyes staring up at you with questioning concern.

  
  


“I’m fine, just processing everything.” You answered truthfully, reaching out to pick a few leaves from his head. 

“Go back to Jiminie.” Jeongguk stared at you until you sighed and pressed a kiss to his head. “Go.” He yipped once before bounding off, barking at his brother playfully as they returned to their game.

You watched the two furry forms dart in between trunks and bushes for a few seconds before picking up your feet and continuing the walk at Seokjin’s side.

  
  


*

“I think I should go with Joon,” You had suspected the words were coming but they still hurt. 

  
  


“Oh,” 

Yoongi frowned further as your own lips dropped into something that was trying to hide how upset his words made you but he still knew and it broke his heart knowing he was causing you pain even if it was only a minute amount. 

“If that’s what you want.” You agreed despite everything in you telling him to stop being an idiot and stay by your side where he belonged. 

  
  


“I…” He sighed and cupped your face in his large hands to press a soft kiss to your lips. 

“It’s not what I want and I’m sure you know that. You know why I’m not staying tonight.” 

  
  


“You’re pulling away to try and prevent it hurting as much when I present as a wolf.” He nodded lightly, reluctantly. 

  
  


It was the last thing either of you wanted but he couldn’t ignore that it was a very likely possibility. 

  
  


Species didn’t mix; werewolves and shapeshifters didn’t mix. 

It was like an ordinary house cat and a wolf coupling up.

It just didn’t happen.

  
  


So he was trying to make it easier on both of you when it happened.

  
  


“I’m sorry,” 

  
  


“Yeah, me too. It was nice while it lasted though.” He smiled weakly at you. “You have been the best thing to ever happen to me, Y/N. I’ll never not love you even if we can’t be in love.” 

  
  


“I know, I know.” You nodded, wrapping your hands around his wrists desperately to hold him to you as you pressed your lips to his in what felt like could be the very last kiss the two of you would share.

  
  


Even when Yoongi pulled away to join Namjoon in the car and shut the door, you couldn’t find it in you to say the words he deserved to hear back. 

  
  


“It’ll be okay.” Jeongguk soothed, standing by your side on the porch even once the only people left on your land was the two of you. 

  
  


“Easy for you to say, you’re not losing someone that’s supposed to be your forever.” You replied with a tired sigh, leaning your head against his chest while his arms wrapped around your waist from your right. 

  
  


“I guess this is why you had two of us, so you’d always have someone no matter what.” 

  
  


You didn’t know what to say to that, if there was anything more you could really say and Jeongguk sensed that so he held you a little closer allowing you to melt in his embrace.

  
  


“Let’s go have a nap, Yoongi’s energy soup worked a little too well. I barely got any sleep last night.” He suggested after a good handful of minutes.

  
  


“Yeah, sure, I need a drink first though.” You agreed having also been robbed of a good night’s sleep thanks to the soup.

  
  


“I’ll go warm the bed up.” He sniggered as the two of you separated. You rolled your eyes fondly at his antics as he sprinted indoors and took the stairs two at a time while removing his t-shirt as he went.

  
  


The door shut behind you almost silently once you were in your home. 

  
  


Thankfully, Jimin and Taehyung had returned everything borrowed from your kitchen into the correct spaces so the room was as tidy as it ever was when you stepped inside. 

Nothing was out of place.

Everything was where it should’ve been.

Everything was where it always belonged. 

  
  


Glass of water in your hand, you turned and immediately stumbled back in shock.

  
  


“Why now?” You questioned in disbelief, your shaking hand reaching out to place the glass on the counter behind you before you crossed the tiled flooring to stand in front of where you knew had been a dented and chipped wall only an hour ago. Maybe even less than that.

  
  


“What’s taking so long?!” Jeongguk’s voice carried down to you from upstairs where he was settled in bed ready for his naptime cuddles but you barely registered him despite hearing his voice loud and clear. 

  
  


Your fingers tingled with something new, something you had never felt before as your skin neared the dull spherical brass attached to dark wood.

  
  


The second your hand wrapped around the handle, something shot through your body with such speed and ferocity that you found yourself stumbling backwards, tripping over your own feet sending you sprawling to the cold tile flooring on your back. 

  
  


Pain erupted in the back of your skull and you felt consciousness slip from your loose grasp.

Light erupted behind your eyelids before your world turned black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't even started the next chapter yet ugh why is motivation/inspiration so hard? ugh
> 
> Tell me what you think about what's going to happen and the information in this chapter!  
> Did everything make sense? If not, let me know and I'll put it on my list of things to go into better detail about! :3
> 
> What do you think she will present as? Alpha or omega(beta)?
> 
> And as always, feel free to send me any ideas you have the future of this story because we all know my ideas suck these days, if they even exist lol


	17. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 792  
> Warnings; None

_ A little boy, no older than four years in age bounded into the cabin with a bright bunny smile.  _

  
  


_ “Gooie!” The girl of the same age, if only a few days younger, shrieked excitedly at the new presence while she entirely abandoned her puzzle on hardwood flooring of the living room to race over and throw her whole body weight into his arms. _

  
  


_ “Yo-yo!” He yelled back just as full to brim with joy while holding her impossibly tight to his body.  _

  
  


_ Their parents watched on with fond smiles on their faces as she grabbed his pudgy little hand into her own equally pudgy one and pulled him over to the floor where they worked together to create the majestic handmade wooden puzzle in the shape of a wolf. _

  
  


_ ~*~ _

  
  


_ Little legs carried him as fast as they could to the source of the distressed cries, laced tightly with pain.  _

  
  


_ “Yo-Yo!” He dropped to his knees beside the little girl where she was curled up by the thick roots of a tree they were certain was as old as time.  _

_ “Where hurts?!” He asked so she moved her hands from where she clutched her knee, the material of her trousers ripped from her tumble and revealing a cut barely a few centimetres long. _

_ “It’s okay! I am here!”  _

  
  


_ Neither seemed to realise that they were the same in height and weight as he tried to lift the girl up in his arms as his parents did with his own tiny body when he was hurt.  _

_ Eventually, they walked side by side, his arms tight around her waist and hers around his shoulder. _

  
  


_ It took them a lot of fumbling and almost trips back to the dirt of the forest floor but finally, they made it to the cabin she lived in.  _

  
  


_ “Oh, my poor little princess!” Her father cooed picking up his daughter at the sight of her red cheeks and ripped clothing, to carry her into the kitchen. _

  
  


_ “What a brave little man,” Her mother hummed, crouching in front of the little boy whose chest puffed up proudly at the words. _

_ “You always look out for our princess, don’t you?”  _

  
  
  


_ “I will prodec her!”  _

  
  


_ “I know,” She smiled softly, something knowing in her eyes that his young eyes couldn’t catch.  _

_ “How about a snack for our brave little man?”  _

  
  
  


_ ~*~ _

  
  


_ “I have a secret!” The little boy whisper-yelled as he crawled into the den tucked near the cabin under the cover of the tall trees. _

  
  


_ The little girl looked up with wide eyes full of interest and awe.  _

_ Secrets were so rare and wonderful! _

  
  


_ “What Gooie?”  _

  
  


_ “Someone’s getting married!” _

  
  


_ “Wedding?”  _

  
  


_ “Yeah!”  _

  
  


_ “Who?”  _

  
  


_ “I don’t know.” He sighed deeply as if the world had done him a great injustice by not sharing the names of the wedded couple to be. _

_ “They saw me.” His bottom lip jutted into a pout that she poked until they were both giggling and all thoughts of the wedding were replaced with games. _

  
  


_ ~*~ _

  
  


_ “Yo-yo?”  _

  
  


_ The little girl looked at her companion, mouth smeared with the strawberries that didn’t quite make it from the vine to her little basket. _

  
  


_ “Do you love me?”  _

  
  


_ “Yes.” She answered easily with a firm nod, juice dripping from her chin and onto her already messy pale green summer dress. _

_ “You love me?”  _

  
  


_ “Yes.” He nodded madly as if she was crazy to think otherwise. _

  
  


_ Her lips spread into a bright grin that was soon reflected by his own features. _

  
  


_ “Yummy!” She enthused, thrusting a freshly picked strawberry towards his face. _

  
  


_ ~*~ _

  
  


_ They didn’t know what was going on but they knew it wasn’t good. _

_ People they didn’t know were in his home, talking to their parents while the two young children were told to stay in his room and play. _

  
  


_ They never went to his home even though he had his own bedroom and she shared with her parents.  _

_ They always played at her cabin, always spent days running around the plants rapidly growing in her garden and tended to by her father’s careful hands. _

  
  


_ But they were in his cabin and it was late. _

  
  


_ They didn’t understand. _

  
  


_ “Scawy, Gooie.” She whispered, tucked up close to his side on his bed.  _

  
  


_ Two pairs of eyes were glued to the closed door with tense anticipation.  _

_ They didn’t know what they were waiting for but they knew it was something that would change everything. _

  
  


_ “I will prodec you, Yo-yo.” He insisted, holding her little hand in his own tighter. “Forever.”  _

  
  


_ “Fo-evuh?” She repeated, turning her head to look at the boy by her side, her best friend. _

  
  


_ He pulled one hand from her grasp to extend his pinky finger towards her. _

_ “Together forever, promise?”  _

  
  


_ She lifted her own freed hand to lock their pinkies together firmly. _

_ “Pwomise.”  _


	18. The New You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.2k  
> Warnings; Adult language

A dull, distant throbbing at the back of your head woke you from what felt like the deepest sleep you had ever experienced. 

The more alert you grew though, the throbbing decreased until it was no more; you didn’t dwell on it in fear of it returning. The last thing you wanted was to start your day with a headache.

  
  


Tiredly, you reached out for one of the men that usually occupied your bed but you met nothing but empty sheets on both sides. 

  
  


With a confused twist of your mouth, you opened your eyes to peer around yourself.

You were alone in your room and the sun was barely peeking through the pulled curtains. 

Something felt off, really off.

  
  


It wasn’t until you were pushing yourself out of bed and to the window that you realised that you couldn’t recall going to bed.

  
  


As you pushed the curtains open, you forced your mind to work and pulled forth the memories of the previous day.

It took a few minutes but then it hit you.

The door.

  
  


With a gasp, you turned and bolted downstairs, barely even noticing that more than just Jeongguk was in your home before coming to a still in front of the new room entrance just inside of the kitchen.

  
  


“Holy shit,” You breathed out, lifting your hand to touch the wood but you remembered that last time you did that, it somehow threw you back and knocked you out cold.

Your hand lifted instead to the back of your head expecting a bump of some kind but there was nothing, not even a little tenderness. It was like it never happened. Yet you remembered it so vividly.

  
  


“You were right.” 

Your hand dropped as you turned to your right where Namjoon had just joined you, his arms folded over his chest and gaze on the door.

“Even Jeongguk can’t deny the door’s existence now.” 

  
  


“What even happened? How is it there?” You asked only to realise your throat was dry. 

With an uncomfortable frown at the feeling, you turned and moved to get yourself a glass of cool water that you quickly gulped down.

  
  


“Fuck,” To your surprise, it was Yoongi’s voice. 

  
  


With a jolt, you turned to find that both Yoongi and Jeongguk had also joined the two of you in the kitchen, both staring at you with wide eyes.

  
  


“What?” You asked, putting your empty glass in the sink to deal with later when the world made a little more sense. Your priority wasn’t exactly a dirty dish.

  
  


“You’ve presented,” Jeongguk informed quietly. Your eyes widened in surprise. 

  
  


“Looks like you’re in charge now, alpha.” 

You choked on your own spit at Yoongi’s words.

  
  


“What? Alpha? Me?” 

  
  


“Yeah, strong too,” Jeongguk confirmed carefully approaching you to lean forward and inhale deeply with his nose pressed to the healed mark on your neck. 

“Fuck, smell so good,” When he dropped to his knees and tipped his head back to bare his throat to you, something in you swelled with satisfaction.

  
  


“You’re submitting to me.” You realised when you understood that it was your alpha that you could feel. 

  
  


“Yes.” Jeongguk confirmed. 

“Please scent me.” He practically begged.

  
  


“Guk-” 

  
  


“Please, alpha.” 

  
  


Your wolf growled happily in your chest and it felt so weird and wrong, like something in a badly written fanfiction, but it also felt right, like it was always supposed to be that way.

You gave in to your instincts and stepped closer so that when you bent over, you could press your face into Jeongguk’s exposed neck. He whimpered as your scent mingled with his, his whole body shivering when your lips passed over his scent gland. 

  
  


“Good boy,” You hummed before straightening up with a blink. 

Your mouth opened and closed a few times but you shook your head to clear away any weird feelings and thoughts lingering in your mind to turn your focus to Namjoon and Yoongi. 

“What the fuck is going on?” You pointed to the door behind them with a raised eyebrow.

  
  


“We-we don’t know,” Yoongi rushed out, swallowing thickly and unable to meet your eyes. 

  
  


“Why are you being weird?” 

  
  


“I’m guessing you just used your alpha on him without realising,” Namjoon informed. 

  
  


You immediately shrunk into yourself.

“I’m so sorry, Yoongi, I didn’t know. I’m not...please don’t…I’m sorry.” 

  
  


It took a few minutes but slowly, Yoongi managed to straighten up and meet your concerned gaze.

“I know it wasn’t intentional. You don’t have a grasp on it yet. I understand, Y/N. I’m not upset with you.” He assured, sending a soft smile your way that had you relaxing against the counter. 

  
  


“I think I know why the door appeared now,” Namjoon announced gaining your attention back so he continued to speak knowing that you were listening intently to him.

“I think the house and the magic within it have deemed you ready to learn whatever secret is hidden behind that door.” 

  
  


“How am I ready? I’m not ready for any of this.” 

  
  


“Because you’re who you’re supposed to be now.” 

  
  


“A wolf?” Namjoon nodded. 

“I do not have the mental capacity to deal with more on top of...this.” You motioned vaguely to yourself. 

“The door and its secrets can wait. Plus, when I touched it last night it fucking threw me across the room!” 

  
  


“That was two days ago,” Jeongguk informed from where he still knelt before you, his hands wrapped loosely around your calves.

  
  


“Seriously?” He nodded and you sighed heavily in frustration.

“Okay, fine, whatever, it was two days ago. Can you get up now? Why are you still down there?”

He only shrugged in response before getting to his feet to stand by your side and entwine your fingers. 

“You’re my beta now, right?” He nodded. “This is so fucked up.” 

  
  


“I was never made to be an alpha, not really.” He shrugged. “I always felt wrong being in charge of everyone. I can protect, sure but being in charge like that made me uncomfortable. Too much power to me. I like being your beta much better.” 

  
  


“You were probably an alpha to hold her place,” Yoongi suggested. “And now you’re who you were supposed to be...her beta.” 

  
  


“I still don’t like this.” You informed, eyes glued to Yoongi’s own sad ones.

  
  


“I know but we don’t have a say in this.” The shapeshifter sent you a soft smile before looking at his witch by his side.

“We should get back to the shop before Tae opens any unlabelled bottles.”

  
  


“Good idea,” Namjoon agreed with wide eyes at the thought of Taehyung opening a vial to try and guess what was inside only to have the contents work its magic on him, literally.

“When you’re ready to open the door, let me know, I can stand by your side just in case. We don’t know what’s hiding on the other side.”

  
  


“Yeah, thanks, Joonie.” 

  
  


“Thanks for coming,” Jeongguk spoke. 

  
  


Namjoon just smiled before turning and leaving. 

Yoongi gave a little wave before following the taller male. 

You didn’t have it in you to watch his downturned features leave your land so you stayed in the kitchen while Jeongguk walked the pair out.

  
  


When Jeongguk bounded back into the kitchen, he had a bright bunny smile on his features, eyes sparkling with excitement and you couldn’t help but smile back.

  
  


“What’s with you?” You asked curiously.

  
  


“You can come on runs with me and hyungs now!” He enthused, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  
  


“Runs?” 

  
  


“Yeah! As wolves!” 

  
  


“Oh...right.” You hummed thoughtfully.

You had been curious what it felt like as you watched the wolves run around, yipping happily at one another and part of you had wished you could join in and experience whatever they were feeling that had them so happy all the time. 

It was like they were free and you wanted to know what that felt like.

  
  


“Would you want to?” 

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, you always look so happy. I want to know what it’s like.” You confirmed and somehow, his smile grew wider, his cheeks beginning to obscure his eyes a little as they lifted high.

“How do I do it? Like...change?” 

  
  


“Oh,” He thought for a moment, hands on his hips and a too-serious expression on his cutely scrunched features. A giggle escaped your lips at the sight. Jeongguk was simply too precious.

“I haven’t had to think about it in a long time. You get used to it pretty quick. You just let your wolf break free, want to be a wolf and bam, you’re a wolf!” 

  
  


“It doesn’t hurt or anything?” 

  
  


“It’s weird the first few times, I mean your body is literally transforming in seconds but it doesn’t hurt, not that I remember.”

  
  


“That’s reassuring.” You grumbled pushing off of the counter to walk to the back door and open it wide.

  
  


“Where are you going?” He mumbled confusedly as he followed you out into the cool morning air. 

  
  


“There’s not an awful lot of space to run inside.” You pointed out. Jeongguk suddenly picked you up from behind, his arms winding around your waist to spin you around a few times while you laughed. 

“Okay, down boy!” You teased. He nuzzled your neck before putting you down allowing you to face him. 

He was already pulling his clothes off so that they didn’t get torn to shreds. 

  
  


You took a moment to appreciate his naked form- and ignore his cocky smirk- before pulling your t-shirt over your head. 

  
  


Jeongguk watched intently as you stripped down to bare skin. 

His tongue ran over his lips as he took in every inch of your exposed body. 

  
  


“We can run later,” He suggested, voice low. 

  
  


You laughed and rolled your eyes before closing them to focus.

It wasn’t hard to find your inner wolf, it felt like an old friend, like someone you had been separated from for a long time and you guessed that was true. 

Your bones felt weird suddenly and your skin tingled. You almost reached out to scratch but it was gone almost as fast as it started. 

  
  


“Oh, wow.” 

Your eyes opened and you were surprised to be level with Jeongguk’s crotch. You jolted back in surprise and he sniggered before transforming into his deep brown wolf form. His gaze was level with yours and it was then that you realised you were so low because you were no longer a human.

  
  


Your head darted downwards to find light grey paws supporting your weight.

  
  


A chortle came from Jeongguk as you started to excitedly bounce around on four paws, testing your new body as you threw yourself around happily. 

  
  


A yelp escaped your lips when weight collided with your side sending you tumbling to the floor. 

Luckily, you almost instantly realised it was Jeongguk tackling you and didn’t panic but moved to throw yourself back at him until you were both rolling around the ground playfully wrestling and nipping at each other’s ears. 

  
  


Suddenly, Jeongguk bolted off of you and with a grin sent in your directions, he sprinted off into the trees. 

With a grin of your own, you followed.

  
  


*

The sun was setting by the time the two of you stopped for longer than to just lap up the cool, clean water of the stream.

By that point, you were no longer in the safety of your land but you didn’t feel worried about it, something in you knew that wherever Jeongguk was leading you was safe for you both.

  
  


Then a cabin came into view, three times the size of your own and you inhaled familiar scents. 

  
  


Jeongguk barked out a laugh as you rushed past him and up to the front porch. 

  
  


The front door was open so you jumped inside and flopped to the floor with laughter as Seokjin screamed in fright. 

  
  


“What the fuck?!” He shrieked, only calming when he took a second to get past his fright and focus.

“Wait...Y/N!” He exclaimed before running over to throw himself on top of you in a hug.

“You presented! Wow! Alpha!” He beamed and nuzzled you. 

  
  


“There’s someone here.” Jimin murmured sleepily, stepping out of his room in just his boxers, hands rubbing at his eyes. You grinned at him

It took him a second to connect the dots and then his black wolf form was on top of you and yipping excitedly while Seokjin huffed and puffed at the black paws pouncing on his back. 

  
  


Before that moment, you had never seen Seokjin’s wolf but then there he was, wrestling with Jimin, soft brown against black.

  
  


Jeongguk finally plodded into the cabin; he had been waiting on the porch to let his brothers greet the newest pack member properly.

He dropped down beside you and rested his head on your shoulders.

That’s how you two stayed, watching the older two wrestle for a while until they turned to the two of you and dragged you into their play fighting. 

  
  


That night was the first night you spent in their cabin as a pack in wolf form but you just knew it wouldn’t be the last and you were more than okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I've got down for the next chapter is the title hahaha fuck me I'm screwed


	19. CATS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 4k  
> Warnings; Nongraphic talk about the Kang murder. Adult language.

A week after presenting you made your way into town to restock your pitifully empty pantry and replace the clothes both yourself and Jeongguk had ruined with sudden transformations from human to wolf just to playfully attack the other- also you accidentally changed during sleep a few times but let’s not dwell on that.

You had spent the past week with your new pack; learning how to control your alpha better and hide it ready to face others outside of your family while also spending the majority of your time tumbling around in your new form with Jeongguk and his brothers. It seemed that half of werewolf life was playing around and you didn’t mind that one bit. 

  
  
  


As you parked your truck in the small parking lot beside the grocery store, you found that you had an odd kind of emptiness within your chest where your heart lived. 

It only occurred to you then that it was the first time since presenting that you had been more than a room away from Jeongguk. Your heart was calling out for your mate and begging him to return to his rightful place.

You hadn’t even completed the ritual to become full-fledged mates; he didn’t bear your mark yet you were more connected to him than you ever thought possible for one person to connect to another.

In that moment, part of you dreaded completing the mating ritual as you knew your bond would only grow stronger and being away from your mate would border on painful. As it was you felt wrong and incomplete with the slightest ache within you that made it feel as if you and Jeongguk had been separated for years not less than an hour.

But then you saw a familiar mop of white hair plodding along the street and essentially forgot all about it. 

  
  


With a bounce in your step, you climbed out of your truck and rushed over to Yoongi.

He turned before you were near to him with a confused expression on his features having sensed someone approaching but he wasn’t used to the new you so he didn’t know who it was even if there was a familiarity to it. 

  
  


“Oh,” He breathed out in understanding. A soft smile tilted his lips up the slightest bit. 

“Y/N,” He greeted. “What are you doing in town? I didn’t think your mate would let you leave his sight.” 

  
  


“Like he has a say in what I do,” You giggled and he chuckled. 

“Need to full the cupboards back up and buy us new clothes.” 

  
  


“You both wear the same outfits on repeat, why do you need new clothes?” 

  
  


“We’ve ripped a lot of clothes this past week-” 

  
  


“Don’t want to know,” He frowned, shaking his head. “Please keep your sex life to yourself.” 

  
  


“What?” You laughed. “It’s not a sex thing, jeez, Yoongi.” 

  
  


“It’s not?” 

  
  


“No, we’ve spent a lot of time as wolves and we have this dumb thing going on where we suddenly change and attack the other. We’re down to our last clothes.” 

  
  


“That is dumb,” He hummed, sniggering when you whined and nudged his shoulder gently. 

“What have you done with the ripped clothes?” 

  
  


“They’re in bags right now until we figure it out.” 

  
  


“Take them to Tae, he likes to make his own clothes so I’m sure they’ll be of use to him.” 

  
  


“Oh! Yeah! Good idea!” You enthused with a bright grin that made him smile back. 

  
  


“I see you’ve learned to mask your alpha already.” 

  
  


“Yeah, the boys have been teaching me a lot the past week. We all decided it was best to keep the news to the family.” 

  
  


“Yeah, that’s wise.” He nodded as he looked down at the ground a little awkwardly. 

“Guess you two can have a family of your own now, huh? Now you’re both werewolves and can reproduce.” Your gasp made him look up to find you staring at him with wide eyes.

  
  


“We hadn’t even considered that,” You announced. 

  
  


“First thing I thought of.” 

  
  


“Really?” 

  
  


“It was only just over a week ago that we were talking about having our own kids, Y/N and now even if we were still...it wouldn’t work out. Wouldn’t be possible.” 

  
  


“Oh...yeah...right.” A frown tugged your lips and your chest ached but it felt different to earlier, it wasn’t your heart calling for Jeongguk but something in you reaching for Yoongi. 

Yoongi’s eyebrows furrowed questioningly when the expression on your face changed from pained to confused while remaining glued to him. 

“Do you...do you still feel connected to me?” 

  
  


“Y/N-” He sighed deeply. 

  
  


“Please?” 

He took in your pleading expression and gave in with another heavy exhale.

  
  


“Yeah, yeah I do.” 

  
  


“Me too.” It was his turn to grow wide eyes and puzzled at your confession.

“Just then, you looked sad and I wanted to do everything possible to make you happy. I...I still feel the exact same towards you as I did a week ago, Yoongi. I’m not trying to make things difficult or anything but that...that means something, surely?” 

  
  


“You can’t have a mate and a soulmate, Y/N, as much as I wish it was possible it isn’t. You’re a werewolf and werewolves and shifters don’t mix even platonically most of the time so romantically, it’s doomed to fail.” 

  
  


“But-” 

  
  


“Please just stop.” He all but begged. “I can’t listen to this, I can’t have you get my hopes up, Y/N. I’m trying to accept that we can’t be anything but friends and it’s fucking killing me but it’s the truth. We can’t be soulmates because of what you are.” 

  
  


“It’s not my fault, I didn’t choose this.” 

  
  


“I know, I know and I’m not blaming you. It’s just...it’s how the world works, I can’t have that kind of happiness and before you came along I had grown to accept that but you gave me hope when you found the herb and now...just please, Y/N, don’t say these things to me even if you believe them with everything in you. It won’t work for us. You’ll complete the mating ritual with Jeongguk during your heat and then-” 

  
  


“My what?” 

  
  


“They haven’t explained a heat to you yet?” He deadpanned, groaning when you shook your head. “Female rut, the only time you’re actually fertile and can reproduce. Happens once a year and your mate’s rut will sync up with it so you can make strong pups together.”

  
  


“Oh…” You nodded in understanding. “Thanks for telling me.” 

  
  


“Another reason we can’t reproduce together, your wolf wouldn’t want anything but another wolf during heat. He’s your only chance at having children.”

  
  


“Oh…” 

  
  


“Yeah,” He sucked in a breath and looked around awkwardly. 

“I need to get back to the store now.” 

  
  


“Right, yeah, of course.” You nodded and took a step back from him feeling as if it was a physical representation of the state of your relationship with Yoongi. 

“Can you tell Joon I’m going to open the door tomorrow?”

  
  


“Oh yeah, yeah, I’ll tell him to come around in the morning.” 

  
  


“Thanks.” 

  
  


“No problem.” 

  
  


An awkward wave and reluctant goodbye later, you were walking in separate directions.

  
  


**

  
  


Namjoon was at your cabin at just before 10 the next morning with a bag full of an assortment of witchy things you didn’t even want to question. Jeongguk, on the other hand, was right by Namjoon’s side and questioned every single thing the witch pulled from the neverending depths of the duffle with childlike wonder and curiosity.

  
  


“Can you get me a small bowl of warm water?” Namjoon requested to Jeongguk who immediately nodded and jumped up from where they both were sitting on the kitchen floor in front of the door.

  
  


“Other cupboard.” You reminded Jeongguk as he started to open the cupboard that contained the bowls but they were for eating, not whatever Namjoon wanted to use it for. 

Jeongguk moved to the cupboard by the pantry and pulled a small bowl out from there instead; one Yoongi had used to teach Jeongguk how to make a preservative potion for food- the end result was still in a jar in the pantry and put to use whenever you harvested new crops to keep them fresh for longer.

  
  


With a bowl of warm water on the floor in front of him, Namjoon started to drop and pour different ingredients into it while muttering words in a foreign language under his breath.

  
  


“Okay, it’s ready.” The witch announced after a few minutes before clambering to his feet to approach you with the potion in his hands.

  
  


“If you tell me I have to drink that I’m going to throw up.” You warned as you peered at the off yellow sludge in the bowl. 

  
  


“No, you don’t have to do that.” He chuckled and dipped his index finger into the bowl before using it to draw a sigil with the mixture on your forehead.

“We don’t know what is down there so this should protect us from any potentially ill-intentioned spells and such.” He explained while drawing the same sigil onto Jeongguk’s forehead. He then held the bowl out to you so you dipped your finger into the mixture and copied the drawing from Jeongguk’s skin onto Namjoon’s.

  
  


Once Namjoon deemed the three of you protected enough and ready, he led you to stand in front of the door.

  
  


“If it throws me back again, I quit.” You announced, even if there wasn’t a single drop of hesitation in the way you stepped forward to wrap your hand around the handle. 

Nothing happened. 

You waited a second before slowly turning the handle until there was a faint click then you pulled the door open.

“I guess I have a basement.” You murmured eyeing the stairs leading down into darkness.

  
  


“Do you want me to go first?” Namjoon offered but you shook your head. “Sure?” 

  
  


“I think I need to.” 

Jeongguk stepped behind you to place a torch into your hand and leave a supportive kiss to the back of your head.

  
  


Part of you expected something to happen as soon as you placed your foot on the first step; as if the stairs would morph and swallow you whole or a chained beast would surge up and swallow you whole. What your sudden obsession with being swallowed whole was you had no idea.

And then you found yourself on solid ground; the stairs were nothing more than wooden steps and there wasn’t a chained beast in sight.

Not that you could see past the beam of your torch but the space around you was silent, not even the sound of a draft coming in from the open door.

  
  


“I don’t think we needed the sigils,” Namjoon announced as he joined your side with his own torch dancing around the space lighting up shelving units full of books and an assortment of items similar to those Namjoon filled his own shelves within his home and store. 

“This must’ve been Sunni’s workspace.” He realised. 

  
  


“Did you know about this, Guk?” You questioned looking at the male practically attached to your back. 

  
  


“No,” He murmured but there was something hesitant in his voice. “I mean...I don’t think I did like I didn’t know the door was there or anything but I dunno it feels kind of familiar down here.” 

  
  


“Maybe you did come down here but you were too young to remember clearly.” You suggested.

  
  


“Yeah, maybe.” 

  
  


“I think I found a light,” Namjoon called out from across the room moments before soft light started to fill the space until everything was perfectly visible. 

  
  


“Where’s it coming from?” You asked as you placed your then off torch onto the old heavy wooden table in the centre of the room. Jeongguk placed his down too before wandering off with curiosity fizzing in his veins.

“The light?” You pointed to the ceiling where there wasn’t a single lightbulb; there wasn’t a lamp in the room either. It was like the light was sourced from thin air.

  
  


“This.” Namjoon held what you could only describe as a crystal ball in his hands; it seemed to have a bright light stuck in the centre of the clear outer layers.

“It’s a witch's light. Not a very creative name but these are really old, like older than electricity and all that. Witches have used them for centuries upon centuries to light their private spaces. I’ve never seen one in real life before though due to the fact electricity is so accessible pretty much everywhere now. Sunni must’ve used it in her workspace as there’s no electricity down here.” 

  
  


“Guys look,” The pair of you quickly moved to Jeongguk’s side just as you were about to reach out and touch the witch’s light- Namjoon placed the orb on the table carefully beforehand as he didn’t need to carry it around for it to be active.

  
  


“Is that Sunni and Lee?” You questioned peering at the photo frame Jeongguk held. 

  
  


“Yeah and my parents.” His finger traced over the protective glass where his parents sat smiling and laughing with Sunni and Lee, none of them looking at the camera as they talked and cooked over the campfire. They must not have known the photo was being taken. 

“I took this photo, I remember my dad had just found his old film camera and I wanted to try it so we took it camping with us.” You glanced at Jeongguk’s features with a soft smile hearing how happily he remembered his childhood but your smile dropped when you saw the way his eyebrows furrowed with frustration.

  
  


“What is it?” 

  
  


“I thought I remembered the trip, all of it but now all I can remember is what I’ve told myself and what I can see in this photo. I can’t remember any of it. Why can’t I remember? It’s one of my best memories.”

  
  


“You can’t?” Namjoon questioned moving even closer to carefully take the frame from Jeongguk’s hand. 

“Why are there fingers in the frame?” 

  
  


“I was a kid, I didn’t know how to take a picture properly.” 

  
  


“No, I get that, I mean, they’re on opposite sides. There’s no way you could’ve taken this with your hands like that. Someone else must’ve been holding it with you.” Before Namjoon had even finished talking Jeongguk had snatched the frame back to stare with wide focused eyes at the photo. He took in the blurs on either side that he had somehow missed a moment ago. 

  
  


“We were the only ones there, I don’t remember anyone else.” 

  
  


“You don’t remember it at all from what you just said.” Namjoon pointed out with a thoughtful hum. 

  
  


“But no-one else was allowed onto the Kang’s land. Just the Kangs and the three of us.” Jeongguk mumbled utterly bewildered. “There was never anyone else.” 

  
  


“I had a weird dream the other day.” You announced gaining both of the males’ attention.

“But now I’m wondering if it was the house telling me something. I think it’s been trying to tell me things for a long time but I just assumed it was my imagination going wild.” You pointed to the stairs. 

“I dreamt of those ages ago, remember when I bought the sledgehammer to try and break the wall?” 

  
  


“You dreamt of stairs to a basement before then?” Namjoon asked, stepping that bit closer to you giving away his deep intrigue.

  
  


“And a door.” 

  
  


“You had even seen the door before it revealed itself. The house definitely wants to tell you something.” The witch hummed. “We should find that out, maybe it can explain why you have the deed.”

  
  


“Can we come back to that? I want to know about the dream, Y/N.” Jeongguk interrupted. “It must be relevant otherwise you never would’ve mentioned it then.” 

  
  


“I dreamt of a little boy and girl, they seemed the same age. She called him Gooie, I think she couldn’t pronounce his actual name because she had a lisp. He called her Yo-yo but her parents always called her princess.” You reached out to take the photo from Jeongguk and study the faces for a few moments before turning it to face the two while pointing at two particular people.

“They looked exactly like Sunni and Lee even though I’ve never seen them before now.” 

  
  


“That definitely sounds like something we need to look into.” Namjoon turned and started to scan all the book titles, for what you had no idea but he seemed to be on a mission so you left him to it. 

  
  


“I’ve never had a female friend my age until you,” Jeongguk commented. “But...something about that sounds like me.” 

  
  


“I think Gooie was you. Well, either that or you have a brother you never told me about because Gooie lived in your family cabin. His room was Jimin’s.” 

  
  


“Jimin has my childhood room. I moved into my parents’ room when hyungs moved in.” 

  
  


“Did you have a den on the Kang land? Just behind the cabin?” 

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, I did.” Jeongguk’s eyes were wide as he stared at you. 

“Gooie is me, or was me but I don’t remember the girl. Sunni and Lee didn’t have a child.” 

  
  


“Well shit,” Namjoon’s cussing caught your attention so you both looked at him. He was at the big table with a stack of books in front of him.

  
  


“What have you found?” You enquired as you crossed the short space to stand at his side and glance at the open book he was glaring at. You didn’t understand the writing, it was in a language entirely foreign to you.

  
  


“Nothing.” 

  
  


“What language is that?” 

  
  


“What?” You pointed at the page. 

  
  


“I think I’ve seen similar characters in one of your books.” 

  
  


“You can see it?!” 

  
  


“Uh, can’t you?” He just shook his head.

  
  


“Babe, it’s blank,” Jeongguk announced while peering over your shoulder.

  
  


“No, it’s not.” 

  
  


“All of them are. Every single book is filled with blank pages.” Namjoon informed you both. 

  
  


“But I can see it clear as day.” You argued before closing the book to move it aside so that you could open the next book. From the leather binding and the style of the handwritten pages, you assumed it was a journal. 

“Look, it’s a journal.” You flicked through the pages finding only half of them full of a deep blue ink. 

“Huh, it’s not finished.” 

  
  


“Can you read it?” 

  
  


“Yeah.” You turned to the last page with writing on. 

“It says something about…” You trailed off when the words fully registered in your mind. 

“I think this was Sunni’s last day.” You whispered. 

  
  


“Read it.” Jeongguk encouraged. “Please, Y/N, I need to know-” 

  
  


“I know.” You agreed and returned your attention to the top of the single paragraph. 

_ “I’ve known this was coming for a while but it doesn’t make it any easier. I’ve been keeping a close eye on my love these past days and I can tell tonight will be the night. I know it’s not his fault, he’s been cursed, I know and I don’t blame him at all for what will play out this evening.  _

_ I hope he can hold onto his identity long enough that we can enjoy one final sunset together before the full moon rises.” _

  
  


“What does that mean?” Namjoon asked. “Was Lee cursed?”

  
  


“He did it, he killed her, I can’t...who would make him do such a thing?!” Jeongguk suddenly yelled and turned angrily to kick a stool across the basement. 

  
  


“Stop it,” You demanded. In an instant, Jeongguk was crouched down curled up with his head tucked between his knees and his arms caging him in as he whimpered.

“Fuck, I’m sorry Gukkie, I didn’t mean to use that on you.” 

  
  


“I-I know.” He insisted as he sniffled. You just knew it wasn’t because of you. “But you needed to.” 

  
  


“Lee killed Sunni?” Namjoon murmured to you knowing that Jeongguk was trying to accept that the man he looked up to as a child did the very thing his family had been accused of doing.

You only nodded.

“But...she was killed by a werewolf.” The look you gave Namjoon made his eyes blow wide as he gasped.

“Lee was a werewolf?”

  
  


“Yeah.” 

  
  


“Fuck. Why didn’t Guk’s family tell anyone? We blamed his parents even to this day.” 

  
  


“They couldn’t, they swore an oath that the land bound.” 

  
  


“Fuck, that’s so unfair to them. Why did Sunni make them do that?” 

  
  


“I don’t know. I don’t know if Guk does either.” You shrugged and turned back to the book. 

“Oh, I thought that was the last page but I guess not.” You spoke upon noticing writing in the middle of a page a few pages after the last dated entry.

  
  


“Is that blood?” Namjoon pointed to the tiny splattering of red on the edge of the page.

  
  


“I think this must’ve been written when it happened.” You realised after taking in the lowered quality of the handwriting, the shaky lines, the way the pen seemed to fall off the page at the end. 

“Shall I read it aloud?” 

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, it may give us answers.” 

  
  


_ “If you can see the contents of this journal, it means destiny is real.  _

_ I hope you have lived a happy life until now because I’m afraid from now on your life will never be what you expected to grow into. There’s a lot you don’t know but I don’t have time to explain. I don’t have the time left. _

_ All the help I can give to you is to tell you to learn about CATS. It’s the reason for all of this.  _

_ I wish I could be there for you, Ji-”  _ You let out a heavy breath. 

“It cuts off there.”

  
  


“Ji?” Jeongguk questioned having been listening as you read the journal, from where he was slouched on the floor against one of the table legs.

  
  


“I don’t know.” Your gaze returns to the only word written entirely in uppercase. 

“I’m more focused on why she wrote cats capitalised honestly and why she wants whoever this note was for to learn about them.” 

  
  


“It was capitalised?” Namjoon paled. 

  
  


“Yeah, why? Why is that important?” 

  
  


“Well fuck.” Namjoon suddenly rushed to the stairs. 

Of course, you followed wondering why he was running off at the mention of felines.

  
  


“Joon, what is it?!” You called as you ran through the open front door after him

  
  


“I need to go do research.” He informed while fiddling with his keys to unlock his car. “If this is what I think it is…” He inhaled shakily before looking at you with something in his eyes that honestly scared you.

“This is something bigger than any of us could’ve ever imagined, Y/N. If I’m right then this will change the supernatural world, it’ll affect all of us.” 

  
  


“It’s that serious?” 

  
  


“Yeah. I hope I’m not right because no-one in the world is equipped for this.” With that, he finally managed to yank open his car door and slide inside. 

He drove off and was gone in seconds. 

  
  
  


Jeongguk was on the couch when you entered your home and shut the door behind you. He was staring blankly at the unlit fireplace, his knees pulled up to his chest and arms wrapped tight around them.

Silently, you climbed onto the seat next to him to wrap your arms around his shoulders and hold his body to yours. 

  
  


“I wish I was wrong, I wish it wasn’t him that did it,” Jeongguk admitted in a tone so broken and quiet you almost didn’t catch it. 

  
  


“I know, I know, baby.” 

  
  


You couldn’t even begin to imagine or understand all the thoughts and pain going through Jeongguk’s mind and body right then, all you could do was hold him and let him cry against your neck until he ran out of tears and exhausted himself into falling asleep against your side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have zero ideas about what to write for the next chapter. I know what 21 & 22 will be but chapter 20 I’m clueless. Any ideas? All suggestions welcome, they may be useful for future chapters if not 20!
> 
> Also, I apologise for not updating in like a month, I've legit only just managed to write this chapter in the past hour, I've been struggling to write especially this story but I haven't abandoned it! I open the doc multiple times a week just can never write anything
> 
> Pleassseee send me ideas for this story no matter how vague, or ask questions that I can answer in later chapters in plot form. I am struggling, gang


	20. Jiminie?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.7k  
> Warnings; Adult language.

It had been a while since you had last seen Taehyung; a good few weeks in fact and you had missed him hugely. Unfortunately, you hadn’t really had the time to spare for a while to visit your best friend; you had been too preoccupied with your presenting at first and then comforting Jeongguk for the past few days from what you learned in Sunni’s journal. But, your mate had been taken away for a run by his hyungs to cheer him up leaving you all alone with nothing to do.

Sure, you could’ve easily returned to the basement to read some of the books there and try to learn something to make sense of the whirlwind your life had become but you didn’t want to face it alone.

So, you grabbed the bags of ripped clothes and made your way into town.

  
  


“Y/N!” The screech of your name the second you stepped into the store made you grin. 

  
  


“Tae!” You cooed back as his long arms wrapped tight around your waist. 

  
  


“I’ve missed you so much!” 

  
  


“I’ve missed you too.” You admitted easily. 

When Taehyung detached himself from your body, you held up the bags of shredded clothes. 

“Will these be of any use to you?” 

  
  


“What is it?” He asked taking a bag from your hands to walk to the counter to rummage through the container.

“Oh! Clothes! Why are they all ripped?” He gave you a suggestive grin from where you stood on the opposite side of the counter. You gave him an unimpressed look that made him giggle.

“Jiminie told me that you and Jeongguk surprise attack each other a lot. I think it’s unfair that I, your  _ best friend _ have not seen your wolfie yet.” He pouted at you.

  
  


“Hang on a minute,  _ Jiminie? _ ” You teased with a smirk, sniggering as pink tickled the high points of Taehyung’s cheeks. 

“Something to tell me, Tae?” 

  
  


“I want to see your wolf.” 

  
  


“You know that’s now that I mean.” 

  
  


“Sorry, can’t talk, have customers to help.” He looked away from you as he pretended to need to sort out from loose receipts on the countertop. You took the moment to look around the empty store.

  
  


“We’re the only two here, Taetae.” You giggled. 

  
  


“Hobi-hyung will be here soon.” 

  
  


“Huh, haven’t heard about him in months.” You realised, honestly having mostly forgotten about the red-haired male. 

“I guess I should go before he turns up, he hates me.” 

  
  


“He just doesn’t understand how you have the deed to the land. He suspects you were involved with the Kang murder and everything.” Taehyung replied causing your jaw to drop. “What?” 

  
  


“Are you serious? That’s why he’s always a dick to me? Because of something I was in an entirely different country for?” 

  
  


“Yeah…” Taehyung made an expression that reflected how awkward he felt about the entire situation; that he didn’t agree with his friend’s reasoning and thought process but there was nothing Taehyung himself could do about it.

  
  


“That makes literally no sense.” 

  
  


“I know but the whole thing has never made sense, there’s a lot of missing pieces. Like why would the Jeon’s kill their best friends like that, no-one under-” 

  
  


“Wait, you don’t know?” Taehyung’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Didn’t Joon or Jimin tell you?” 

  
  


“Tell me what?” 

  
  


“We found Sunni’s journal-” Taehyung gasped and was about to encourage you to continue when the bell above the shop door jingled letting you both know someone had opened it to enter. 

  
  


“Hyung, come here quick, you’ll want to hear this.” Taehyung enthused. 

  
  


“Hear what?” You didn’t have to turn to know it was Hoseok approaching from behind even if you hadn’t heard his voice in quite a while. 

  
  


“Y/N just told me they found Sunni’s journal.” 

  
  


“What?” Hoseok was suddenly by Taehyung’s side and they were both staring at you with wide eyes, urging you to continue. 

  
  


“She knew it was coming.” You informed, trying to figure out if Hoseok could be trusted with the information that had clearly been hidden for a reason.

“She knew the person that did it had been cursed, it wasn’t their fault at all. Nothing could be done.” 

  
  


“The Jeon’s were cursed?” Hoseok murmured. 

  
  


“No, they had no part in it from what I read.” 

  
  


“Then who?” 

  
  


“Look, Hoseok, I get that you want to know and that you care about what happened to Sunni and Lee but you have done literally nothing to prove yourself to me; you’ve treated me like shit since you found out that I have the deed because you think I’m connected somehow which is fucking ridiculous because I was literally in China at the time of their murder and a  _ child _ . There’s no way I could be involved. But you’ve been too up your own ass to see sense on it so I’m not going to tell you anything more about this. I have no reason to trust you and this has clearly been kept secret for a reason even if we’ve yet to figure out that reason.” 

Both males just stared at you unable to form a response. Hoseok looked scolded and embarrassed at being so blatantly called out like that whereas Taehyung just looked surprised at your little outburst and honestly kind of amused by it all.

  
  


“I guess I deserve that,” Hoseok replied awkwardly.

  
  


“You do.” You agreed and Taehyung snickered.

  
  


“Y/N, Hobi is very trustworthy,” Your best friend decided to point out to help his friend. “I know he hasn’t proven himself to you but he has to me and Joon and Yoongi so many times. I know you don’t trust him as a person but you can trust our judgement of him.” 

  
  


“I trust you three a lot, Tae but this isn’t something I feel comfortable sharing with someone that is essentially a stranger to me. I can tell you all about it another time when we’re somewhere I feel the information is safe.” 

  
  


“Oh,” Taehyung frowned a little but he nodded in understanding. 

  
  


“Can you tell me anything?” Hoseok questioned. “You’re right with everything you said but I just...the Kang’s were important to everyone in this town and my family have lived here for generations, our families were friends. They helped us a lot and figuring out who killed them and why is something we’ve been trying to do since it happened to try and repay just a fraction of the kindness they gave us.” 

  
  


“I don’t know an awful lot right now, to be honest. We found that a few days ago and I haven’t looked at the journal since. I’m waiting for Joon to be done with his research before going back.” 

  
  


“He was there?” 

  
  


“Yeah. He’s pretty much been the only person that’s been willing to help me figure out the mystery since day one. He’s helped me a lot but until now we’ve only ever hit dead ends.” 

  
  


“You want to find out what happened too?” 

  
  


“Yeah, I may not have known them but the deed wound up in my hands somehow; I’m hoping figuring out how I got it will lead me to find out about my family, whoever they may be.” 

  
  


“Oh, I didn’t realise this is a personal thing for you.” Hoseok looked a little guilty then. “I really jumped ahead of myself when we met and made assumptions that in retrospect were fucking stupid.” 

  
  


“Yes, you did.” Taehyung agreed, making Hoseok scoff while you giggled amusedly.

“We’ve all been telling you that Y/N is nothing but good things but you never listened to us.” 

  
  


“I thought maybe she had put some kind of spell on you or something,” Hoseok grumbled.

  
  


“She’s not a pixie, she doesn’t have charm magic like that.” Taehyung sniggered.

  
  


“Wait, pixie?” You gawped. “Pixies are real too?” 

  
  


“Uh, yeah,” Hoseok gave you a look. “I thought you knew about the supernatural world now?” 

  
  


“I know about witches and shapeshifters and werewolves but that’s as far as my knowledge goes and even then it’s limited.” 

  
  


“You haven’t even told her what you are?” Hoseok deadpanned looking at Taehyung who shrugged. 

  
  


“Tae? Are you a pixie?” 

  
  


“No, Hobi is though,” Taehyung replied. You looked at Hoseok and tilted your head a little in curiosity. 

  
  


“What exactly is a pixie?” You questioned.

  
  


“Kind of like a fairy just minus the wings and more sex,” Taehyung informed bluntly.

  
  


“Yah, I told you to stop saying that!” Hoseok scolded before looking at you. 

“Ignore him, fairies think they’re better than us because they’re deemed cute and innocent.” 

  
  


“We don’t!” Taehyung pouted. “It’s proven fact that pixies have high sex drives and practise polyamory whereas fairies are monogamous creatures. We like to devote ourselves to one person at a time.” 

  
  


“You’re a fairy?” You cooed to your best friend who nodded with a bright, proud smile. 

  
  


“I’m a garden fairy!” 

  
  


“That explains why you’re so good with nature.” You mused.

  
  


“Before Guk claimed you and you presented, I thought you had garden fairy magic in you, your crops are always so good even with the help from the land.” 

  
  


“You really presented already?” Hoseok asked, eyes dropped to the faint mark peeking around your neck from Jeongguk’s bite.

  
  


“Yeah,” You sucked on your bottom lip for a moment. “Alpha.” 

  
  


“Oh,” Hoseok’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I guess you’re running the pack now then, huh?” 

  
  


“I guess.” You shrugged, still uneasy with the fact that you were essentially in charge of the three males and expected to keep them safe for the rest of your life. It was a lot of responsibility and pressure that you were just not used to; sometimes you wondered if you’d ever get used to it. 

  
  


“I think it’s probably best you don’t tell anyone else in town about you presenting or anything.” He suggested earning a puzzled look from you in response. 

“You know the townsfolk don’t like your pack, Y/N but they like you. If they find out that you’re now one of the enemy then you won’t be welcome here anymore.”

  
  


“They’re not the enemy.” You glared at nothing in particular. “Those boys have done nothing wrong. This town is full of idiots.” 

  
  


“Until the truth about the Kang murder is found, I’m afraid no-one will believe that.” 

  
  


“Including you.” 

  
  


“I…” A heavy sigh left the pixie’s lips. “I’ve spent the past twenty years thinking one thing, it’s going to take more than your word to convince me otherwise, especially when you won’t give me anything solid to go on. But I will do my best to give you and your pack the benefit of doubt and be civil for the sake of my friends who all have taken a liking to you guys.” 

  
  


“Well, I appreciate that, Hoseok.” 

  
  


“Even Yoongi has tried convincing me your boyfriend isn’t to blame despite the fact he stole you away.” 

  
  


“Jeongguk didn’t steal me, he didn’t choose this and neither did I.” Your glare was directed at Hoseok then. “As far as I’m concerned Jeongguk is my mate and Yoongi my soulmate despite the fact he doesn’t believe it to be possible since I presented. Guk didn’t steal me away and never will be able to when there will always be a part of me that belongs to Yoongi and Yoongi only.” 

  
  


“You still feel that way?” 

  
  


“Yes.” 

  
  


The pair in front of you shared a confused glance before looking back at you.

“Have you told Yoongi-hyung this?” Taehyung asked.

  
  


“He doesn’t want to hear it.” You shrugged with downturned lips. 

You understood why Yoongi didn’t want to hear your words, you understood that the hope it put in him would only hurt more but you were still hurt that he wouldn’t take your words and feelings as the honest truth. He didn’t believe in a future where you two could be close in any aspect due to the complications the soulmate connection brought up which left with your relationship being demoted down to acquaintances if even that, a state you can’t remember ever being in with Yoongi even from the first day.

“I’m not going to force him to listen, the last thing I want is to hurt him anymore.” 

  
  


“It’s not your fault, Y/N,” Taehyung assured. 

  
  


“I know but it still fucking sucks.” You huffed and pushed away from the counter.

“Do you two have plans? Have I interrupted?”

  
  


“Hyung is just covering for me while I go to a nearby town to pick up some books,” Taehyung informed.

  
  


“Can I come with you?” 

  
  


“Yes!” Taehyung exclaimed, excited at the prospect of spending time with you.

  
  


“You can tell me about being a garden fairy.” 

  
  


“I can show you my wings!” 

  
  


“You have wings?” You gawped and he nodded madly. “Yes yes, I need to see them. I bet they’re beautiful.” 

  
  


“Tand you can show me your wolf! Jiminie says you’re the prettiest grey colour.” He cooed while walking around the counter to take your arm into his.

  
  


“We shall also be talking about that,  _ Jiminie _ .” You teased and he whined a little making you snicker.

  
  


“Remember I have a date tonight, Tae, don’t be too long.” Hoseok reminded him as you two neared the door.

  
  


“I won’t!” Taehyung assured the pixie and then the two of you were gone leaving Hoseok in charge of the store for the next few hours.

  
  


**

The town Taehyung had to pick up the books from was an hour and a half drive away so you both decided to have lunch there to make the trip better.

So there you sat in a chain restaurant giggling and eating together.

  
  


“So, Jimin and you?” You finally mentioned; the pair of you had been very sidetracked with pretty much everything except that particular topic.

  
  


“What about us?” He mumbled, twirling the straw in his coke.

  
  


“I don’t know, you tell me.” 

  
  


“There’s not much to say, we got along at the campout and meet up to look for herbs and stuff.”

  
  


“You know you can be honest with me, right, Taetae? I won’t judge you for who you like.” You announced genuinely, making sure to meet his shy gaze. 

  
  


“I just…” He sighed and slumped a little. “Werewolves keep to themselves, they always have, most supernatural species do because we can’t reproduce with other species but werewolves are especially off on their own. So fairy kind and wolves just, we’ve never mixed well but Jimin and I...we...I think there’s something special between us, Y/N. I know that it’s not true because it can’t be but he feels like my soulmate, we just get each other so well.” 

  
  


“Oh, really?” He nodded, too busy sucking down his drink to answer verbally. You hummed thoughtfully in response.

“Well, maybe you can be soulmates. If the world thinks Yoongi and I can be soulmates despite everything then I see no reason why you can’t.” 

  
  


“You’re not soulmates anymore, though, the universe made a mistake and this is how it fixed it.” 

  
  


“Is that what Yoongi says?” Taehyung nodded softly.

“Full offence to Yoongi but he’s a fucking idiot.” The first snorted out a laugh.

“The universe is as old as time itself, it doesn’t make mistakes like that. We were soulmates then and we still are, I don’t care what anyone says.” 

  
  


“And what about your mate?” 

  
  


“What about him?” 

  
  


“A person has never had two soulmates before.” 

  
  


“I don’t, I have a soulmate and a mate. Yoongi has my soul and Jeongguk my heart and they share my mind equally. I don’t feel more for one or the other even if our connections are different.” 

  
  


“Really?” You hummed in confirmation.

“You know, you’ve changed a lot since we met?” 

  
  


“A lot has happened, Tae, I can’t stay the same through all that.” 

  
  


“I know. I like this you. I liked the old you too but this you...she’s more sure of herself, more open and happy. I like this you. You deserve this, Y/N.” 

  
  


“Shut up.” You muttered gruffly feeling emotions swirling in you that you knew would show themselves as wet streaks on your cheeks if left to grow. 

“Finish your food, I want to get back in time to see your wings before I have to be back home.” 

  
  


“Okay,” Taehyung giggled.

“Love you, Y/N.” 

“Yah!” His laughter grew louder as you threw a handful of sugar packets at him. 


	21. The Prophecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count; 2.6k  
> Warnings; Adult Language.

It took at least two weeks for Namjoon to return one day out of the blue at your cabin looking frazzled and exhausted. 

  
  


“When was the last time you even slept?” You greeted, stepping aside to let him into the building. He shuffled over to drop down onto the armchair and allow the books and papers in his arms to fall onto his lap heavily. 

  
  


“This is more important.” He answered, already shuffling through the documents. 

“Where’s Guk?” 

You decided against lingering on the fact it was the first time the witch has used the nickname for your beta. Either Namjoon was that tired or he deemed them friends; you didn’t want to question it in fear of one of your dearest friends rejecting the thought of friendship with Jeongguk. It would hurt too much; you wanted them all to get along well and to fix the issue between the two groups as they all deserved. 

  
  


“Hunting.” 

  
  


“You didn’t want to go?” 

  
  


“I’m new to all this, I’d only hold them back. Besides, I don’t much fancy the thought of killing an animal with my bare hands, well paws.” 

  
  


“Yeah,” He made a face. “I don’t blame you.” 

  
  


“I take it you found out everything you wanted to?” 

  
  


“Unfortunately, yes.” 

  
  


“Unfortunately?” You settled on the end of the couch nearest to him and leaned both elbows on the armrest while tilting your head at him with puzzlement. 

Surely, finding out the information he wanted shouldn’t be  _ unfortunate _ , surely that’s what he wanted.

  
  


“When will he be back?” 

  
  


“Not until tonight. They’ve gone further up the mountain; meat tastes better from up there apparently.” 

  
  


“Oh,” He frowned heavily in thought before handing an open book to you. 

“Can you read that?”

  
  


You looked down at the black ink handwritten on old, yellowed pages and shook your head.

“It’s another language.”

  
  


“It’s okay, just a theory.” You raised an eyebrow questioningly as he took the handmade book back to close and move aside. 

  
  


“What does it say?” 

  
  


“No idea, I can’t read it.” 

  
  


“And you thought I could?” 

  
  


“Like I said, just a theory I had about why you’re here, why you have the deed and all that.”

  
  


“Going to share that theory?” 

  
  


“Later, it won’t make sense yet to you.” He handed over a handful of loose papers covered in his own handwriting. 

“This is the important part.” 

  
  


“Am I supposed to be able to make sense of this? Joon, this is a mess.” You commented leafing through the pages.

If you had the time and patience, you could’ve eventually decoded at least half of the scrawled words but at just a glance, you could only easily read a few random words of the almost illegible rushed handwriting.

  
  


“Sorry, I was using multiple sources and just writing down the relevant stuff. It took a while and I didn’t have much time, I used books in the forbidden section of the library so had to rush before my dad found me there.” You paused and looked up at him through your eyelashes at that.

  
  


“Forbidden section?” You had to bite back your amused grin. “That’s very Hermione Granger of you.”

  
  


“The most informative books are there,” Namjoon defended simply without a beat of hesitation before continuing on his previous track.

“I couldn’t find anything in any public books or online, it’s like probably the biggest secret in the magical world, maybe the world in general.” 

  
  


“That’s vaguely terrifying.” He nodded in agreement.

“So you had to sneak into the secrets of the forbidden section?” 

  
  


“Yes,” 

  
  


“Right okay and remind again what exactly it is we’re talking about. You sort of just pushed this onto me with no explanation there, bucko.” 

  
  


“CATS.” 

  
  


“Yoongi?” 

  
  


“What?” 

  
  


“Cats, ya know, the fluff ball that lives with you?” 

  
  


“No,” He waved his hand dismissively as if batting the very thought out of the air. “Not the animal, the organisation.” 

  
  


“Oh, of course, makes sense,” You hummed and picked at the corner of the pages while skimming over them slowly in hopes of something written there sticking out and being of more help than the barely coherent witch who seemed to only want to give the bare minimum of explanations unless explicitly prompted.

  
  


“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” 

  
  


“Not a clue,” 

  
  


“Are the books blank to you now too?” 

  
  


You looked up at him and pointed in the vague direction of the basement door. 

“In the basement?” He nodded. “Haven’t been back down there.”

“What?” He deadpanned. “You have a collection of books including some as old as this town probably down there and you haven’t been back to look for information?” 

  
  


“I was waiting for you. I don’t really know what I’m looking for.” 

  
  


“The journal literally said to look up CATS.” 

  
  


“In my defence, you never said it didn’t mean the animal.”

  
  


“You-” he took in a deep breath before shaking his head a little and exhaling. “Let’s not even get into that, I don’t have the mental capacity right now.”

  
  


“Agreed, let’s not judge me for gaps in my magic knowledge when I didn’t know it was real up until a few months ago.” 

  
  


“Okay, that’s true, you’ve taken to it all so quickly I keep forgetting.” He hummed. 

  
  


“So, going to explain this organisation to me that is not about felines despite its name?” 

  
  


“CATS stands for Coven Against The Supreme.” 

  
  


“Sounds awfully American Horror Story to me.” 

  
  


“It existed long before that.” 

  
  


“Enlighten me,” 

  
  


Namjoon shuffled a little to get into a more comfortable position so you did the same sensing it was not at all going to be a quick and easy conversation.

“Okay so you already know that the Kang’s are a long line of powerful witches, right?” You nodded. “Well generations ago, like a couple of centuries, there was Kang Jihyo and she was powerful in the way of spirits and well, instinct, kind of like you just she was a witch. She was known to be able to communicate with the spirits and learn the secrets the other side held and she used these to create prophecies.” 

  
  


“Like, telling the future kind of thing?” 

  
  


“Yeah, sort of, though she couldn’t say specifics because it was against the laws of nature for that. So every prophecy she ever made had some vague details, she couldn’t tell you who it was about specifically or when it would happen but they all came true within her lifetime. The spirits could only communicate with her about things she would live to see. Except for the one prophecy that didn’t come true. A lot of people don’t know about it anymore because of what it said and how dangerous it is, how it would change everything.” 

  
  


“What was the prophecy?” 

  
  


“Let me give you a bit more information first.” You just nodded in agreement. 

“The Kang’s, despite being respected for their power and loved because there’s never been a bad one in them all, have always been known to be a little...delusional I guess you would say. Well at least until the prophecy and then many started to fear them until the existence of the prophecy was removed from the general public.”

  
  


“Why delusional?” 

  
  


“You know how at first everyone said you couldn’t reproduce with Guk because we didn’t know you were a werewolf at the time?” 

  
  


“Werewolves can only reproduce with other werewolves.” 

  
  


“Yes well, it’s not just werewolves. All magical creatures can only reproduce with those from the same species.” 

  
  


“They wanted to mix species, didn’t they?” You realised and he nodded. 

  
  


“Back before the prophecy, it was known that the Kang family would invite those of other species in to try and get pregnant with a mixed-species child. It never worked and to keep the bloodline going they would marry and reproduce with another witch and the next generation would try again. And then the generation after the prophecy, well the only people that stepped up and offered to try and mix species with them were people with bad intentions, people that wanted the prophecy to come true for their own evil intentions. So they stopped and just married witches from the get-go. At least, that’s what everyone thought and most no doubt still do. But knowing what I do now…” He inhaled deeply. 

“The prophecy stated that the Kang experiments will be successful and there will be a child born with mixed blood and more power than the world has ever known. That child will be The Supreme.” 

  
  


“Holy shit,” 

  
  


“Yeah.” 

  
  


“The little girl in my dream…” You breathed out at a volume barely above a whisper in utter disbelief.

  
  


“I think Sunni managed it, if that girl really was the daughter of her, a witch and Lee, a werewolf, there’s potentially a person out there with the power to change the whole fucking world.” 

  
  


“Fuck me,” 

  
  


“Yeah,” 

  
  


You both stared off at nothing in particular, both too caught up in your own thoughts to be able to speak even if your minds were whirling with the same information and theories.

  
  


“That means that this CATS business was formed to destroy this kid.” 

  
  


“Pretty much,” 

  
  


“That’s messed up.” 

  
  


“It is but I also understand why they feel the need to. Someone with mixed blood would be a force to be reckoned with from a normal family but with the incredible ability and power than runs in the Kang bloodline, well, that kid would grow to be able to do practically anything with practice, hell, maybe even just instinctively.”

  
  


There was another stretch of silence between the two of you before something occurred to you, something that Namjoon hadn’t even hinted at but now that you knew all you did you couldn’t ignore the fact that it made perfect sense.

  
  


“They did it, didn’t they? CATS, they found out about Lee and they killed them.” You spoke. The witch in front of you only nodded in agreement; he had been thinking the same thing.

“What about the girl? I don’t think they got her,” 

  
  


“No, honestly, I think that maybe nobody knew she even existed. I think Sunni wiped her from Guk’s mind and sent her away to keep her safe.” 

  
  


“In my dream, I saw her and Guk, they were in his room and they were scared, they knew something was happening. Their parents were in another room talking and there might’ve been other people, I didn’t see anyone but I felt it. Do you think that could’ve been what was happening? They were sending her away?” You recalled as images of the dream flitted through your mind in reminder.

  
  


“Oh, yeah, yeah, could be. I don’t think the house would show you them being scared for no reason. I imagine everything it showed you had a reason.” 

  
  


“You think so?” 

  
  


“Hm yeah, you didn’t ever tell me what the dream was about properly. Was that it?” 

  
  


“No, it was a sequence of a few different scenes.” 

  
  


“Can you remember enough to tell me? They might tell us something.” 

  
  


“Yeah,” 

Every second of the dream was as clear in your mind as the night it happened. You could recall every detail perfectly and used that to your advantage to retell the story your dream told you those weeks back.

“What do they mean?” 

  
  


“Well, the first one sounds like it was just introducing them to you more than anything but the focus on the wolf puzzle gives meaning with Guk being a werewolf and her father so there’s a good chance her DNA is a mix of witch and werewolf.” 

  
  


“Yeah, that makes sense.” You agreed with a small nod, gaze unfocused as you mentally focused on the images in your mind while still listening to Namjoon.

“The second part, it’s like it's saying Guk’s role in her life, to protect her.” 

  
  


“That’s very likely especially taking into account the third part; about the wedding.” You blinked a few times to bring your visual attention back to the room and looked at the witch. “Obviously we won’t know unless Sunni wrote about it in her journal but I have a suspicion that Guk had overheard their parents arranging a marriage between the two.”

  
  


“It would keep them together, make it so he would always be around to keep her safe.” 

  
  


“My thoughts exactly.” He hummed and nodded. 

“That was everything, right? Of the dream?” 

  
  


“Yeah,” Your eyes caught on the book on his lap as you nodded.

“Can we get back your theory regarding that now?” You questioned, pointing at the small mass.

  
  


“Oh, right, yeah,” He wrapped his hands around either side of the book as he looked down at it. 

“When the prophecy was made, the Kang’s knew people would be after The Supreme and had many people offering up their lives to protect this prophecy child that hadn’t even been born yet because they trusted the Kang’s and knew the child would be able to grow to do many great things for everyone due to their powers. So they started a group called POP-” 

  
  


“Pop?” You deadpanned and he sighed. 

  
  


“Yes, people were bad at creating names for their super secret organisations, can we move on?” 

  
  


“Sure, continue.” 

  
  


“So  _ as I was saying _ , POP was started and it stands for Protectors of the Prophecy- do _ not  _ mention the missing T, Y/N, I am already stressed enough.” 

  
  


“Alright, I won’t. Sorry.” You motioned for him to continue with a wave of your hand. 

  
  


“So POP consisted of people that the Kang’s trusted with their lives and these people, who called themselves Guardians, dedicated their lives to the Kang family and did everything they could to protect them to help ensure The Prophecy could be fulfilled and the child born. And this book, this is written in a secret language that the Kang family created and would implant into the head of Guardians. It’s how they would communicate.” I thought maybe you were picked up by the couple that adopted you to be a Guardian. There’s still a good chance it’s true but Sunni died before she could put the ability to understand the language in your mind.” 

  
  


“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” You agreed. “Actually, it definitely makes sense, why the deed is in my name, why they said I was always meant to be here. If I was supposed to grow up to be a Guardian then everything actually makes sense now.” 

  
  


“Maybe Sunni kept a list of Guardians in her workroom, we might find your name down there.” 

  
  


“Yeah, maybe.” 

  
  


You both looked over towards the door but neither made a move to get up.

Namjoon was absolutely exhausted and had pretty much fused himself to the armchair to soak up the comfort it held.

But you, you just couldn’t, there was something in you preventing you from getting up to go and search for such an item as Namjoon theorised; you didn’t know why you didn’t want to look, couldn’t even make a guess so you didn’t try. 

You were quickly learning that a lot of things that didn’t make sense about the town and your new life would one day explain themselves to you when the time was right. 

You just hoped you weren’t left with unanswered questions at the end of your life.

  
  


“I’ll make us some tea, Yoongi left some of your calming blend here so that should help you sleep.” 

  
  


“Mmh, yeah, that sounds great.” He mumbled as you wandered to the kitchen. 

  
  


By the time you were back, Namjoon had relocated to spread himself across the sofa where he was already deep asleep and snoring softly from his open mouth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that it has been over 2 months since I last updated  
> I've literally only just managed to write the chapter but hopefully, this has answered more questions than its raised haha
> 
> I know I say this pretty much every update but I really am struggling to write this story despite loving the world and everything  
> So any ideas for future chapters no matter how small would be greatly appreciated! 💖

**Author's Note:**

> If you think I need to add a specific warning that I missed, don't hesitate to let me know. 
> 
> If you want visual guides for building layouts and such, let me know and I'll make some because I know I need them myself to imagine things and remember layouts and such.


End file.
